•MS.r  -  **C  -i'»r-.'.-.»i«W»>M««tWw  ■^-■r' 


FROM   THE   LIBRARY   OF 


REV.    LOUIS    FITZGERALD    BENSON.   D.  D. 


BEQUEATHED   BY   HIM   TO 
THE   LIBRARY  OF 


PRINCETON   THEOLOGICAL   SEMINARY 


inox 


DMrioa 

Section 


[bookseller] 


ZW-- 


BYE-PAT 


IN 


BAPTIST   HISTORY: 


A  COLLECTION   OF 

INTERESTING,    INSTRUCTIVE,    AND    CURIOUS    INFORMATION 

NOT    GENERALLY   KNOWN, 

Conarnwg  %  §aj3trsi  denomination. 


BY   THE  [/ 

REV.     J.     JACKSON    GOADBY, 


AUTHOR    OF    "TIMELY    WORDS. 


NEW   YORK: 

BIBLE   AND   PUBLICATION   SOCIETY, 

76,  EAST   NINTH. 


. 


PREFACE. 


nnHE  footpaths  of  any  country  may  be  expected  to  yield 
-*-  some  glimpses,  both  of  the  land  and  the  people,  not 
obtainable  along  the  dusty  and  well-beaten  highway.  It  is 
sincerely  hoped  that  this  may  prove  equally  true  of  these 
Bye-paths  in  Baptist  History.  That  they  occasionally  cross 
the  main  roads,  and  now  and  then  run  parallel  with  them,  is 
no  more  than  other  "  Bye-paths  "  have  done  before  them  ;  but 
care  has  been  taken  throughout  to  preserve,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, their  distinctive  character. 

In  the  sketches  thus  given  of  the  Early  English  Baptists,  no 
attempt  has  been  made  to  diminish  their  excellencies  or  to 
gloss  over  their  defects.  Their  early  and  persistent  advocacy 
of  the  broadest  religious  freedom  (an  honour  of  which  none 
will  now  seek  to  rob  them) ;  their  zealous  regard  for  Scriptural 
precedents ;  and  their  willingness  to  sacrifice  all  things  in  the 
maintenance  of  what  they  deemed  to  be  the  truth,  commend 
them  to  the  warmest  sympathies  and  loving  regard  of  their 
descendants.  Nor  should  their  disputatious  and  angular 
character ;  their  literal  observance  of  customs  now  fallen  into 
desuetude,  and  their  vigorous  and  inquisitorial  discipline,  be 


PREFACE. 


judged  apart  from  the  ferment  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived, 
their  natural  reaction  against  the  commandments  of  men,  and 
their  steadfast  desire  that  those  who  associated  with  them 
should  live  unblamahlc  and  unreprovable  before  God. 

The  author  tenders  his  hearty  thanks  to  the  gentlemen  who 
have  kindly  rendered  him  help  in  the  preparation  of  this 
volume.  He  desires  especially  to  mention  Rev.  W.  Robinson, 
of  Cambridge,  who  very  cheerfully  examined  for  him  the 
Baker  MSS.  in  the  University  Library  of  Cambridge  ;  Rev. 
J.  C.  Means,  London,  who  permitted  him  the  free  use  of  the 
MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Baptist  Assemblies  :  Rev.  R. 
Wallace,  Tottenham,  for  the  earliest  extant  Minute  Book  of 
the  Particular  Baptist  Board  ;  and  Dr.  Underbill,  London  ;  Dr. 
Underwood,  Chilwell  College ;  Revs.  W.  Urwick,  Hatherlow ; 
J.  Jenkyn  Brown,  Birmingham ;  R.  Harris,  Esq.,  Leicester ; 
J.  Barlow,  Esq.,  Accrington;  T.  Bayley,  Esq.,  Lenton  Abbey, 
Nottingham ;  and  many  other  friends,  for  their  generous  loan 
of  rare  and  valuable  books. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTEK  I. 
Early  Traces  of  Baptists  in  Britain. 

PACK 

Inference  from  Tertullian  and  Mosheim 1,  2 

Austin  and  the  Monks  of  Bangor 2—7 

The  Law  of  Ina 7,  3 

Lanfranc's  Opposition  to  the  English  Waldenses 8 

Gerard  and  his  Companions 8,  9 

The  Lollards 12 

Wycliffe's  opinion  on  Baptism 12 — 14 

The  Bible-men 14 

The  Chesterton  Separatists 14 — 20 

CHAPTER  II. 
Ancient  Baptist  Churches  in  England. 

Hill  Cliff e,  near  Warrington 21—2)5 

Eythome,  Kent 23—20 

Booking  and  Braintree,  Essex 26 — 28 

CHAPTER  IH. 

Origin  of  the  Baptist  Denomination. 

Smyth  and  the  General  Baptists 29 — 34 

Spilsbnry  and  the  Particular  Baptists 34 — 37 

The  Six-Principle  Baptists 37,  38 

The  Seventh-day  Baptists 38—42 

The  Scotch  Baptists 42—46 

The  New  Connexion  of  General  Baptists 46—52 


COXTENTS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 
The  Baptists  and  Liberty  of  Conscience. 

PAOE 

Honourable   Position   of  Baptists  in  the  History  of  Religious 

Freedom 52 

Religious  Peace ;    or,  a   Plea   for  Liberty  of  Conscience.     By 

Leonard  Busher 54 — 61 

Persecution  for  Religion  judged  and  condemned 61 — 63 

A  Most  Humble  Supplication 63 — 67 

The  Necessity  of  Toleration  in  matters  of  Religion 67 — 71 

CHAPTER   V. 
Persecution  of  Baptists  in  England. 

Baptists  persecuted  by  every  Dominant  Party 72 

Henry  the  Eighth  (1509— 1547) 72—74 

Edward  the  Sixth  (1547—1553) 74,  75 

Mary  (1553—1558) 75—78 

Elizabeth  (1558—1603) 78, 79 

James  the  First  (1603—1625) 70—81 

Charles  the  First  (1625—1642) 81,  82 

The  Civil  War  (1642—1649) 82— S9 

The  Commonwealth  (1649—1660) 89—91 

Charles  the  Second  (1660—1685) 91—99 

James  the  Second  (1685—1688) 99—103 

CHAPTER   VI. 
Baptist  Confessions  of  Faith. 

Confessions  were  Expositions,  or  Apologies 104—106 

Smyth's  Confession 106—110 

The  London  Confession  (';  Faith  of  the  Seven  Churches  ")      .  110 — 117 

Grantham's  Confession 117 — 121 

The  Orthodox  Creed 121-129 

The  Confession  of  the  Assembly  (of  Particular  Baptists]     .     .  129 — 133 

The  Somerset  Confession 133 — 136 

Articles  of  Religion  (General  Baptist,  New  Connexion)  .     .     .  136 — 13S 

CHAPTER   VH. 
Public  Disputations  on  Baptism. 

Why  they  arose 139, 140 

Dr.  Daniel  Featley,  in  Southwark 140—153 

Baxter  and  Tombes,  at  Bewdley 153 — 155 

Tombes,  with  Vaughan  and  Cragge,  a:  Abergavenny      .     .     .  155 — 160 

Denne  and  Gunning,  in  London 161 — 166 

The  Portsmouth  Debate 166—179 


CONTENTS.  vii 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Local  Associations  and  General  Assemblies. 

PAGE 

What  led  to  the  idea  of  Association 180—182 

The  Somerset  Association 182 — 186 

The  Midland  Association 186—192 

General  Baptist  Assemblies 192 — 195 

The  Caffynite  Controversy 195—197 

The  General  Association 197—200 

The  First  Particular  Baptist  General  Assembly 200—207 

The  Second  and  Third  Particular  Baptist  Assemblies     .     .     .  207,  208 

The  Fourth  Particular  Baptist  Assembly 208—210 

The  Fifth  Particular  Baptist  Assembly 210—213 

The  London  Association 213—217 


CHAPTER  IX. 
Officers  of  Baptist  Churches. 

Elders,  or  Ministers 218—229 

Messengers,  or  Apostles     . 230 — 233 

Deacons  ;  Helps  in  Government 231 — 238 

Deaconesses 239, 240 


CHAPTER   X. 
Church  Discipline. 

The  Basis  of  it 241—243 

Strictness  of  Discipline 243—248 

The  Treatment  of  Heretics 248—257 

Wesleyanism 257 — 258 

Amusements 258 — 260 

Dress 260—264 

Marrying  out  of  Society 264—270 

Domestic  Life 270—272 

Servants 273,274 

Drunkenness 274 — 277 

Money  Matters 277—279 

Miscellaneous  Charges       279, 280 

Dr.  Wall's  Commendation 281, 282 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XL 
Customs  of  the  Early  English  Baptists. 

PAGE 

The  Imposition  of  Hands 282—287 

Fasting 287—291 

Washing  the  Feet  of  the  Saints 291—293 

Anointing  the  Sick 293—298 

Casting  Lots 298—301 

Love-feasts 301,302 

Maintenance  of  the  Poor 302—309 

Marriage  Service 3'J9 — 314 

Burying  the  Dead 315,  310 


CHAPTER   XII. 

About  Singing. 

Early  Notices  of  Singing 317—320 

Outwitting  Persecutors  by  Singing  Psalms 320 — 322 

Grantham  on  "  The  Duty  of  Thanksgiving  " 322—330 

Mr.  Reach  introduces  Singing  at  Horsleydovm 331 

Keach's  Defence  of  Singing 331 

"  The  Leader  of  the  Opposition  " — Isaac  Mario w 333 — 335 

Marlow's  Strictures  on  Allen's  Essay 335—339 

E.  H.'s  "  Scripture  Proof  " 339 

Dr.  Russell  on  Allen's  Essay 340—342 

Allen's  "  Vindication  " 342—345 

Claridge's  Reply  to  Allen 346 

General  Baptists  and  Singing 347 — 349 


CHAPTER  XIH. 

Miscellaneous. 

Ministers'  Clubs 350—361 

Quaint  Items  about  Ministers  and  Deacons 361 — 366 

Catechising 366—368 

INDEX 369—375 


CHAPTER   I. 

EARLY  TRACES  OF  BAPTISTS  IN  BRITAIN. 


11  r  |  iHE  true  origin  of  Anabaptists,"  says  Mosheim,  "  is  hid  in 
J-  the  remote  depths  of  antiquity."  But  there  is  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  as  early  as  the  Third  Century  Baptists  already 
existed  in  Britain.  At  that  period  "  no  persons  were  admitted 
to  baptism  by  the  churches  generally" — still  to  quote  Mosheim — 
"  but  such  as  had  been  previously  instructed  in  the  principal 
points  of  Christianity,  and  had  also  given  satisfactory  proofs  of 
pious  dispositions  and  upright  intentions."  Coupling  with  this 
testimony  the  statement  of  Tertullian,  the  celebrated  African 
writer,  that  in  209  "those  parts  of  Britain  into  which  the 
Roman  arms  never  penetrated  have  yielded  subjection  to 
Christ,"  we  are  warranted  in  saying  that  the  early  British 
Christians  were  men  holding  the  distinctive  principles  of 
Baptists. 

We  have  no  further  trace  of  Baptists  in  these  islands  until 
the  Fifth  Century,  although  there  existed,  [during  the  interval, 
as  we  learn  from  various  sources,  a  numerous,  well-ordered, 
and  nourishing  Christian  community.  In  the  year  410,  the 
Britons  were  not  only  harassed  and  oppressed  by  the  Saxons, 
but  were  distracted  by  religious  controversies.  Pelagius,  who 
had  once  been  a  monk  at  Bangor,  in  North  Wales,  succeeded 
in   spreading   the   poison   of  his  opinions  among  his   fellow- 

B 


BYE-PATIIS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


countrymen.  Among  these  opinions  was  the  belief  in  the 
lawfulness  and  necessity  of  infant-baptism.  Two  zealous 
bishops  from  the  Continent  laboured  to  check  the  progress  of 
Pelagius'  opinions,  and  many  wanderers  were  reclaimed  and 
baptized  in  the  river  Allen,  near  Chester. 

The  third  trace  of  Baptists  in  Britain  is  found  in  the  time  of 
Ethelbert.  Again  the  Principality  claims  the  honour  of  having 
sheltered  and  preserved,  if  it  did  not  originate,  some  of  the 
earliest  Baptist  confessors  in  this  country ;  but  the  claim  rests 
upon  an  obscure  passage  in  the  Chronicle  of  the  Venerable 
Bede,  and  upon  a  version  of  Bede's  words  found  in  Fabyan's 
New  Chronicles  of  England  and  France,  a  book  published  in 
the  time  of  Henry  the  Seventh,  and  which  had  the  honour  of 
being  burnt  in  the  following  reign  by  order  of  Cardinal  Wolsey. 
We  give  the  story  in  which  the  passage  occurs,  and  for  two 
reasons :  first,  it  reveals  the  Scriptural  character  of  the 
Christianity  of  Britain  before  the  time  of  Komish  corruptions ; 
and  secondly,  it  shows  with  what  sturdy  independence  these 
early  Christians  rejected  the  arrogant  pretensions  of  Rome. 

But  to  the  story  of 

Austin  and  the  Monks  of  Bangor. 

Austin,  or  Augustine,  the  abbot  of  a  monastery  founded  in 
Rome  by  Gregory  the  Great  (although  the  pope's  title  to  the 
term  is  very  questionable),  was  sent  into  England  in  596  to 
convert  the  Saxons.  The  Abbot  proceeded  with  becoming 
caution  at  the  outset,  lived  in  a  humble  and  self-denying 
fashion,  and  revealed  no  part  of  his  future  policy.  His  success 
far  exceeded  his  expectations.  Camden  tells  us  that  multitudes 
confessed  their  belief  in  his  doctrines,  and,  going  into  the 
water,  were  dipped  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  So  far  there 
was  a  concession  to  what  was  known  to  have  been  the  practice 
of  the  early  British  Churches.  Gregory  now  sends  Austin 
further  help,  chiefly  monks,  with  one  Mellitus  as  their  abbot. 
They  bring  with  them  presents  for  King  Ethelbert,  an  arch- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


bishop's  pall  for  Austin,  some  copies  of  portions  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, certain  Romish  devotional  books,  relics  to  be  used  in  the 
consecration  of  new  churches,  and  Gregory's  very  trenchant 
replies  to  Austin's  puerile  questions.  With  more  liberality,  or 
with  more  policy  than  Austin,  Gregory,  among  other  things, 
suggests  that  in  settling  the  order  of  the  new  church  which 
had  been  founded  in  England,  Austin  should  not  exclusively 
follow  the  example  of  Rome,  but  should  select  whatever  was 
good,  no  matter  where  he  might  find  it — a  sentiment  deserving 
of  special  notice  as  coming  from  the  mouth  of  a  Roman  bishop. 
Austin  now  makes  Canterbury  the  seat  of  the  first  English 
archbishopric ;  becomes  very  zealous,  with  his  new  monkish 
staff  of  supporters,  in  winning  over  the  Saxons ;  sprinkles  the 
heathen  temples  with  holy  water,  at  least  such  temples  as  he 
could  obtain ;  sanctifies  them,  after  the  Romish  fashion,  by 
making  them  the  shrines  of  certain  relics — bones  and  rags  of 
Romish  saints  ;  converts  the  said  heathen  temples  into  churches  ; 
establishes  festivals  in  honour  of  the  saints  whose  relics  are 
henceforth  preserved  in  them,  taking  care,  as  Gregory  also 
advised  him,  that  the  times  and  the  ceremonies  of  these  new 
festivals  should  be  made  as  palatable  as  possible  to  the  half- 
heathenish  Saxons,  so  that  they  might  be  the  more  easily 
persuaded  to  substitute  the  new  rites  for  the  old. 

Austin's  ambition  increases  with  his  success.  This  "  pre- 
tended apostle  and  sanctified  ruffian,"  as  Jortin  styles  him, 
with  something  of  passionate  abuse,  lusts  after  the  sole  and 
undivided  ecclesiastical  sway  over  the  whole  island.  But  how 
was  he  to  secure  the  realisatiou  of  his  dreams  ?  A  large  and 
flourishing  body  of  British  Christians  were  now  living  in 
Wales,  whither  they  had  sought  refuge  from  the  cruelties  of 
the  Saxons.  Undisturbed  in  their  liberties  and  their  worship 
in  the  fastnesses  of  Wales,  they  had  waxed  stronger  and 
stronger.  At  Caerleon,  in  the  south,  and  at  Bangor-is-y-coed, 
in  the  north,  large  and  flourishing  monasteries,  or,  more  pro- 
perly speaking,  missionary  stations,  were  established.     Bangor 

b  2 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


alone  could  number,  in  association  with  it,  over  two  thousand 
"  brethren."  These  societies  had  little  in  common  with  Romish 
monasteries,  either  of  that  age  or  of  the  following.  The  greater 
part  of  "the  brethren"  were  married  laymen,  who  followed 
their  worldly  calling,  and  those  among  them  who  showed 
aptitude  for  study  and  missionary  work  were  permitted  to  give 
themselves  to  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  and  holy  services. 
All  were  maintained  out  of  a  common  fund,  and  yet  a  large 
surplus  was  distributed  in  the  shape  of  food  and  clothing  to 
the  neighbouring  poor. 

Austin's  problem  was  this :  how  best  to  obtain  ecclesiastical 
authority  over  these  primitive  British  Christians  ?  Ethelbert 
suggested  and  arranged  a  conference  with  some  of  their  leading 
men.  The  conference  was  accordingly  held  in  Worcestershire, 
near  what  was  still  called,  in  the  days  of  Bede,  "  Austin's  Oak." 
The  British  clergy  of  the  province  adjoining  were  invited,  and 
Deynoch,  the  distinguished  abbot  of  Bangor,  a  man  in  great 
repute  for  his  piety  and  learning,  came  with  them.  Austin 
opened  the  conference  by  stating  his  desire  that,  as  good 
Christian  men,  the  people  in  Wales  should  submit  themselves 
to  the  Pope  of  Home,  as  the  Father  of  fathers,  and  to  himself  as 
his  duly  accredited  representative.  Deynoch' s  reply  is  every 
way  remarkable  :  "  We  are  ready  to  listen  to  the  Church  of 
God,  to  the  Pope  of  Rome,  and  to  every  pious  Christian ;  so 
that  we  may  show  to  each,  according  to  his  station,  perfect 
love,  and  uphold  him  by  word  and  deed.  We  know  not  that 
any  other  obedience  can  be  required  of  us  towards  him  whom 
you  call  the  pope,  the  Father  of  fathers.  But  this  obedience  we 
are  constantly  prepared  to  render  to  him,  and  to  every  other 
Christian." 

Nothing  came  of  this  conference,  so  far  as  Austin  was  con- 
cerned. The  Welsh  asked  that,  previous  to  deciding  what 
further  reply  to  give,  a  larger  number  of  their  own  party  might 
be  present.  A  second  conference  was,  therefore,  determined 
upon ;  but  before  attending  it,  the  Welsh  consulted  a  pious 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


lierniit,  who  was  held  by  them  in  the  greatest  veneration. 
"  May  we  obey  this  Austin  ?"  asked  the  simple-minded  Welsh. 
"  Yes,"  answered  the  hermit,  "  if  he  be  a  man  of  God."  "  But 
how  are  we  to  know  that  ?"  The  hermit  answered,  "If  he  be 
meek  and  lowly  in  spirit,  after  the  pattern  of  our  Lord,  he  will 
himself,  being  a  disciple  of  Christ,  bear  the  Master's  yoke,  and 
put  no  heavier  burden  upon  you.  But  if  he  be  violent,  and  of 
overbearing  spirit  *.  it  is  plain  that  he  is  not  born  of  God  ;  and 
you  will  do  well  not  to  heed  his  words."  Still  the  enquirers 
were  not  satisfied.  Like  so  many  others,  they  wanted  some 
outward  and  visible  sign  by  which  to  judge  of  Austin's  character; 
and  again  they  pressed  the  hermit  to  help  them.  "  By  what 
token,  or  sign,  shall  we  know  that  he  is  a  meek  and  holy  man  ?" 
The  hermit,  evidently  with  a  shrewd  guess  at  the  sort  of  man 
they  had  to  deal  with  in  Austin,  responded  :  "  Permit  Austin 
and  his  attendants  to  enter  first  the  place  of  meeting.  If,  on 
your  entrance,  he  should  at  once  rise  to  receive  you,  he  is 
a  servant  of  Christ.  But  if  he  should  still  remain  sitting,  not- 
withstanding the  size  and  character  of  your  company,  you  can- 
not so  account  him."  Of  course  Austin  neither  answered  to  the 
hermit's  description  of  a  disciple  of  Christ,  nor  showed  the 
hermit's  sign  of  courtesy  and  humility.  He  sat  stiffly  up  in 
his  chair  of  state  when  the  Welsh  entered,  and  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  the  business  of  the  conference.  But  the  Welsh  were 
in  no  humour  to  enter  upon  any  agreement,  or  even  quietly  to 
discuss  its  terms.  The  hermit  had  rightly  divined  the  character 
of  Austin,  and  the  Welsh  did  not  conceal  their  uneasiness  in  the 
prelate's  presence.  Austin  first  tries  what  can  be  done  by  con- 
cession. "We  know,  at  Rome,"  said  he,  "that  many  of  your 
customs  are  contrary  to  ours  ;  but  if  you  will  only  consent  to 
these  three  things,  we  will  say  nothing  about  the  rest :  (1)  Alter 
your  time  of  observing  Easter  ;  (2)  Administer  baptism  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Roman  Church ;  (3)  And  join  with  me 
in  preaching  to  the  Saxons."  Still  the  Welsh  hung  back,  little 
loth,  by  putting  their  necks  under  a  foreign  yoke,  to  lose  their 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


dearly-bought  independence.  Austin  now  changes  his  tone,  and 
more  than  justifies  the  hermit's  description  of  one  "  not  born  of 
God."  Cajolery  lias  failed  ;  he  will  try  menace.  "  Well,  well," 
said  Austin,  with  ill-concealed  anger,  "  if  you  will  not  have  my 
blessing,  and  be  brethren,  you  shall  have  my  curse,  and  the 
Saxon's  sword."  Whereupon  the  council  abruptly  broke  up, 
the  monks  returned  to  their  quiet  homes,  and  Austin  comes 
back  to  the  Saxons  to  foment  further  ill-will  between  them  and 
the  Welsh.  There  is  little  doubt  that,  indirectly,  Austin  is 
responsible  for  the  cold-blooded  massacre  by  Ethelfrid  of  up- 
wards of  a  thousand  unarmed  monks  of  Bangor,  although, 
when  the  dastardly  deed  was  done,  the  ambitious  and  revenge- 
ful Austin  was  slumbering  in  his  grave. 

Let  us  now  turn,  for  a  moment,  to  the  passage  in  Bede's 
Chronicle,  on  account  of  which  the  claim  already  mentioned  is 
set  up  by  the  Welsh.  It  runs  as  follows  :  "  Ut  ministerium 
baptisandi,  quo  Deo  renascimur,  juxta  sanctas  Eomanae  Apos- 
tolicas  ecclesiae,  compleatis."  ("  That  you  shall  duly  administer 
the  rite  of  baptism,  by  which  we  are  born  again  unto  God, 
after  the  manner  of  the  holy  Koman  Apostolic  Church.")  From 
these  words  it  is  evident  that  there  was  a  marked  difference 
between  the  mode  of  administering  baptism  in  use  among  the 
Welsh,  and  that  generally  adopted  by  the  Roman  Church ;  but 
what  precisely  that  difference  was  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to 
discover.  Lingard,  the  Roman  Catholic  historian,  gives  an 
explanation  which  Hook,  in  his  Lives  of  the  Archbishops  of  Can- 
terbury, contends  that  he  has  no  actual  warrant  for  making. 
Lingard  says  the  difference  lay  in  the  necessity  for  confir- 
mation after  baptism.  Baxter  and  others  contend  that  it 
refers  to  the  use  in  baptism  of  white  garments,  milk,  and 
honey.  But  most  Baptists  argue  that  the  difference  was,  not  at 
all  as  to  the  mode  of  baptism,  but  as  to  the  subjects  who  should 
submit  to  that  ordinance.  It  is,  unquestionably,  true,  as 
Gregory  the  Great  tells  us,  that  he  himself,  and  others  in  Italy, 
administered   baptism  by  trine  immersion  ("nos  tertio  mergi- 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


mus"),  but  they  also  administered  it  to  infants.  Whether, 
however,  this  last  was  an  actual  point  in  dispute  between  Austin 
and  the  monks  of  Bangor,  we  cannot  learn  from  the  words  of 
Bede.  Dr.  Evans  and  others  with  him,  regard  the  collateral 
evidence  on  the  question  as  distinctly  pointing  to  this  issue. 

Perhaps  the  mode  of  baptism  would  have  been  the  only 
question  raised  by  the  words  of  Bede,  if  D'Anvers  had  not 
pointed  out  that,  in  the  translation  of  Bede's  account  given  by 
Fabyan,  the  second  condition  of  agreement  laid  down  by  Austin 
to  the  Welsh  was  this  :  "  That  ye  given  Christendom  to  children." 
D'Anvers  therefore  concluded  that  Austin  wished  to  force  infant 
baptism  upon  the  Welsh,  and  this  was  evidently  Fabyan  \s 
opinion.  Many  writers  since  the  days  of  D'Anvers  have  fol- 
lowed in  his  wake  ;  but,  in  our  judgment,  none  have  succeeded 
in  making  more  than  probable  the  early  Baptist  reputation  of 
the  Welsh  people  at  the  time-  of  the  brave  old  Deynoch  and  the 
imperious  and  bigoted  Austin. 

The  fourth  trace  we  have  in  English  history  of  the  opposition 
of  the  people  to  infant  baptism,  is  in 

The  Law  of  Ina. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  Seventh  Century,  Ina,  a  Saxon 
prince,  endeavoured  to  settle  the  baptism  question  in  a  very 
summary  manner.  He  enacted  a  law  by  which  all  infants, 
within  thirty  days  of  their  birth,  should  be  baptized.  For  any 
violation  of  this  enactment  the  penalties  were  unusually  severe. 
A  fine  of  £80  in  our  money  was  imposed  upon  the  parents 
who  did  not  comply  ;  and  in  the  event  of  the  child  dying  unbap- 
tized,  their  whole  personal  estate  was  forfeited.  People  who 
had  thus  to  be  compelled  to  have  their  infants  baptized  were  no 
great  sticklers  for  its  observance. 

The  three  following  centuries  were  religiously  as  dreary  in 
England  as  in  other  countries.  They  have  been  rightly  called 
"  the  dark  ages."  During  this  period  of  gloom,  Europe  had 
still  its  own  witnesses  to  the  truth.     Passing  under  different 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


names — Paulicians,  Vaudois  or  Waldenses,  Albigenses,  Beren- 
garians,  Arnoldists — these  godly  men  kept  alive  some  glimmer 
of  light  amidst  all  this  darkness.  There  were  many  among 
them  who  were  opponents  of  infant  baptism.  About  the 
Eleventh  Century  they  rapidly  multiplied  on  the  Continent, 
and  in  the  following  century  came  over  to  England  in  great 
numbers.     We  discover  them  by 

Lanfranc's  Opposition  to  the  English  Waldenses. 

The  simplicity  of  their  lives  (so  different  from  the  pomp  and 
corruption  of  the  Komish  clergy  of  that  period),  and  the  purity 
of  their  doctrine,  led  to  the  rapid  increase  of  their  adherents  in 
all  parts  of  the  country.  Not  only  were  their  sentiments 
warmly  adopted  by  the  humbler  classes,  but  also  by  many  of 
the  nobility  and  gentry  of  the  chief  towns  and  villages.  The 
priests  became  alarmed,  and  preyed  on  the  fears  of  William 
the  Conqueror.  It  was  presently  enacted  by  that  energetic 
Sovereign  "  that  those  who  denied  the  Pope  should  not  trade 
with  his  subjects."  Nor  was  this  all.  The  able  and  zealous 
Lanfranc,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  sought  to  check  the 
progress  of  their  opinions  by  publishing  a  book  in  opposition 
to  the  views  held  by  Berengar  and  the  Waldenses.  In  this 
treatise  he  roundly  asserts  that  these  sectaries,  "  by  denying 
infant-baptism,  oppose  the  general  doctrine  and  universal 
consent  of  the  Church."  It  is  not  on  record,  so  far  as  we 
know,  that  these  Waldenses  or  Berengarians,  suffered  any 
direct  persecution  from  William  the  Conqueror  and  Lanfranc, 
although  it  is  hardly  probable  that  the  act  of  William  was 
allowed  to  remain  a  dead  letter,  or  that  Lanfranc  contented 
himself  with  hurling  words  at  their  heads,  if  he  had  it  in  his 
power  to  use  harder  weapons. 

The  sixth  trace  of  Baptists  in  England  is  found  in 

Gerard  and  his  Companions. 
We   are   entirely  indebted  for  our  information  about  these 
thirty  men  and  women  to  the  pens  of  monkish  historians.     It 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


is  well  to  remember  this  fact,  since  two  important  advantages 
are  thereby  gained :  first,  we  are  better  able  to  test  the 
actual  value  of  their  opinions  of  these  so-called  heretics ;  and, 
secondly,  we  are  forced  to  the  conclusion,  since  such  ob- 
viously prejudiced  observers  could  find  so  little  evil  in 
them,  that  Gerard  and  his  companions  were  very  exemplary 
Christians. 

Their  story,  as  it  has  come  down  to  us,  is  sadly  too  brief. 
In  substance  it  is  this.  Henry  the  Second,  King  of  England, 
showed,  according  to  Roger  de  Hovendon,  remarkable  leniency 
to  the  Waldenses  of  Aquitaine,  Poitou,  Gascoigne,  and  Nor- 
mandy. The  Dutch  and  Flemish,  on  the  other  hand,  treated 
them  with  the  utmost  rigour,  and  burnt  many  at  the  stake. 
Owing  to  some  sudden  outburst  of  persecution  in  Holland, 
a  number  of  Waldenses,  or  as  some  think  them,  disciples  of 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  fled  to  England,  hoping  thereby  to  obtain 
a  secure  asylum  from  their  cruel  persecutors.  In  this,  they 
were  grievously  disappointed.  Henry  was  at  this  period  in 
open  rupture  with  Thomas  a  Beckett,  but  was  still  anxious 
to  stand  well  with  the  Pope  and  the  ecclesiastics  generally. 
The  poor  fugitives,  in  avoiding  Scylla,  had  fallen  into 
Charybdis.  They  were  presently  made  the  convenient  pretext 
for  illustrating  the  soundness  of  the  King's  faith,  and  his 
devotion  in  all  matters  of  doctrine  to  the  "holy  Roman 
Apostolic  Church." 

No  very  flattering  picture  of  Gerard  and  his  companions  is 
given  by  the  monks.  "  They  were  a  company  of  ignorant 
rustics  ;"  which  means,  that  they  were  persons  in  very  humble 
life.  "  Their  understandings  were  very  gross  and  unim- 
proved;" although  the  very  reverse  seems  to  be  nearer  the 
truth,  judging  from  their  general  behaviour.  "  Their  obstinacy 
and  self-opinion  were  such,  that  the  convincing  of  them  by 
argument,  and  the  retrieving  them  of  their  mistake,  was  next 
to  an  impossibility."  In  other  words,  they  held  firmly  the 
opinions  they  had  already  received. 


io  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

But  what  were  their  opinions  ?  Strange  to  say,  these 
"  ignorant  rustics"  did  not  believe  in  the  Romish  doctrine  of 
purgatory.  They  rejected  prayers  for  the  dead.  They  re- 
garded the  invocation  of  saints  as  useless.  On  some  points 
they  held  orthodox  views  ;  but  when  they  came  to  be  examined 
on  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Church,  to  the  horror  and 
confusion  of  their  priestly  questioners,  they  were  grievously 
unsound.  Marriage,  said  these  men,  was  no  sacrament.  The 
sacrifice  of  the  mass  was  an  abomination.  But  worse  still 
remained  behind ;  they  rejected  the  baptism  of  infants !  What 
further  proof  was  needed  of  their  "  gross  and  unimproved 
understandings  ?" 

"  On  their  first  landing  in  England,"  so  the  monks  assure 
us,  "they  concealed  their  heterodoxy,  and  pretended  other 
business."  But  there  is  no  proof  from  any  quarter  that  they 
were  other  than  quiet  and  inoffensive  foreigners,  who  went 
on  with  such  work  as  they  could  obtain.  The  singularity  of 
their  religious  opinions,  however  (for  Rome  was  now  in  the 
ascendant),  soon  became  known.  The  King,  prompted  by  the 
clergy,  whom  he  was  anxious  to  conciliate,  orders  their  arrest 
and  imprisonment.  After  some  time  had  elapsed,  they  are  all 
brought  before  a  synod  of  priests  at  Oxford.  Gerard  was 
their  chief  spokesman.  "The  rest,"  say  the  monks,  "were 
altogether  unlettered,  and  perfect  boors  in  knowledge  and 
conversation.  Their  language  was  high  Dutch."  We  may 
perhaps  discover  in  this  last  circumstance  the  one  secret  of 
their  contempt  for  Gerard's  companions.  He  alone  of  the 
whole  party  was  able  to  converse  freely  in  English. 

Gerard  was  asked,  "  What  were  the  opinions  of  himself 
and  his  friends?"  To  which  he  promptly  replied,  "We  are 
Christians,  and  the  doctrines  of  the  Apostles  are  our  only  rule 
of  faith."  This  was  esteemed  but  a  lame  and  insufficient 
answer  by  the  Romish  priests ;  and  again  they  return  to  the 
charge.  It  then  came  out,  one  by  one,  that  they  held  the 
opinions    already    stated.      "  While     they    were     sufficiently 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


orthodox,"  say  the  monks,  "  about  the  Trinity  and  the  Incar- 
nation, on  many  other  material  points  they  were  dangerously 
mistaken."  The  priests,  seeing  the  respect  paid  by  ^Gerard 
and  his  friends  to  the  Scriptures,  sought  to  convince  them  by 
ingeniously  suggested  texts,  or  "  old  odd  ends  stolen  out  of 
Holy  Writ;"  but  they  remained  unshaken  in  their  opinions. 
They  were  reasoned  with.  They  were  admonished.  They 
were  threatened.  All  was  in  vain.  Again  and  again  they 
were  reminded  by  their  priestly  judges  that  "  they  would  be 
punished  for  their  incorrigibleness ; "  and  at  last,  say  the 
monks,  "they  were  so  unhappy  as  to  misapply  that  text  of 
our  Saviour's  to  their  own  case,  '  Blessed  are  they  that  suffer 
persecution  for  righteousness'  sake  ;  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.'  " 

The  end  was  now  near.  To  prevent  the  spread  of  "  the 
contagion  of  their  opinions,"  the  priests  pronounced  them 
incorrigible  heretics,  and  delivered  them  over  to  the  secular 
magistrate.  Instigated  by  the  priests,  the  King  ordered  them 
to  be  branded  in  the  forehead  with  a  red-hot  iron  ;  to  be 
whipped  through  the  streets  of  Oxford  ;  and,  after  their 
clothes  were  cut  short  at  their  girdles,  to  be  turned  into  the 
open  fields,  although  it  was  the  depth  of  winter.  The  in- 
humanity of  this  treatment  was  heightened  by  the  fact  that 
all  persons,  under  the  heaviest  penalties,  were  forbidden  to 
offer  them  any  relief.  Gerard  and  his  friends  were  nothing 
daunted  by  this  severity,  but  went  forth  through  the  city 
streets,  singing  as  they  went,  "  Blessed  are  ye  when  men 
shall  hate  you."  There  could  be,  however,  but  one  end  to 
their  story.  The  whole  company  of  men  and  women,  with 
their  faithful  leader  and  guide,  perished  with  cold  and  hunger. 

It  came  out  on  their  trial  that  only  one  convert  had  been 
won  to  their  faith,  a  poor  woman  of  humble  life.  No  time 
was  lost  by  the  priests  in  hunting  her  out.  She  was  put  to 
the  torture ;  her  strength  failed  her ;  and,  in  the  anguish  of 
her  body,  she  hastily  recanted. 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


Baptist  opinions  were  held  by  many  of 
The  Lollards. 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Paulicians,  the  Waldenses, 
the  Picards,  and  the  Paterines,  were  all  sometimes  designated 
by  this  general  name.  Whatever  the  origin  of  the  name  itself, 
it  has  never  been  questioned  that  great  numbers  of  the  Lollards 
held  Baptist  sentiments.  It  is  stated  by  some  early  historians 
that  about  thirty  years  after  the  cruel  treatment  of  Gerard  and 
his  companions,  Henry  the  Second  so  far  changed  his  policy  as 
to  permit  a  company  of  Waldenses  to  settle  peacefully  in  Kent, 
as  tenants  of  the  Manor  of  Darenth,  and  that  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  the  Third,  colonies  of  Lollards  came  into  the  county  of 
Norfolk.  Mosheim  affirms  that  Peter  Lollard  himself  visited 
this  countiy  in  the  early  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  con- 
temporary historians  speak  of  the  wide  prevalence  of  Lollard's 
opinions  in  England,  even  before  the  time  of  John  Wycliffe. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  they  prepared  the  wajT  for  the  general 
diffusion  of  that  great  Reformer's  opinions.     What 

Wyclifie's  Opinions  on  Baptism 

were,  it  is  now  needful  very  briefly  to  state.     Taking  some 

passages  by  themselves,   it   would   not   be    difficult   to    claim 

Wycliffe    as   a  holder,   in  part,   of  Baptist  opinions.      "  How 

necessary  the  sacrament  of  Baptism  is  to  the  believer,"  says 

Wycliffe,  "  may  be  seen  by  the  words  of  Christ  to  Nicodemus, 

*  Unless  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of 

God.'     And  such,   accordingly,  is  the  authority  from  Scripture 

on  which  believers  are  customarily  baptized."    Again,  "  Chrism 

and  other  such  ceremonies  are  not  to  be  used  in  baptism." 

Still  further,  "  Baptism  doth  not  confer,  but  only  signify,  grace 

which  was  given  before."      Another  passage  declares,  "that 

those  are  fools  and  presumptuous  which  affirm  such  infants  not 

to  be  saved  which  die  without  baptism,  and  that  all  sins  were 

abolished  in  baptism."     But  on  this  last  point  Wycliffe  contra- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  13 

diets  himself,  since,  in  another  place,  when  speaking  about  a 
child  dying  unbaptized,  he  says,  "  I  hold  my  peace  as  one 
dumb,  .  .  .  because  it  doth  not  seem  to  me  clear  whether  such 
an  infant  would  be  saved  or  lost." 

His  bitter  opponent,  Walsingham,  speaks  in  no  choice  lan- 
guage about  his  opinions.  "  That  most  damnable  heretic,  John 
Wycliffe,"  says  Walsingham,  "  re-assumed  the  cursed  opinions 
of  Berengar,  which  was,  as  you  have  heard,  to  deny  infant 
baptism  and  transubstantiation."  Walden,  who  wrote  bitterly 
against  the  Reformer,  terms  him  "  one  of  the  seven  heads  that 
rose  up  out  of  the  bottomless  pit,  for  denying  infant  baptism, 
that  heresy  of  the  Lollards,  of  whom  he  is  so  great  a  ring- 
leader." But  whatever  his  enemies'  opinions  of  him,  these  are 
his  own  words  in  his  Triologues:  "  On  account  of  the  words  of 
the  last  chapter  in  Matthew,  our  church  introduces  believers 
who  answer  for  the  infant  which  has  not  yet  arrived  at  years  of 
discretion."  In  another  place  he  thus  writes:  "Nor  is  it  of 
moment  whether  the  baptized  be  immersed  once,  or  thrice,  or 
whether  the  water  be  poured  upon  his  head.  But  the  ceremony 
must  be  performed  according  to  the  usage  of  the  place,  and  is 
as  legitimate  one  way  as  another.  For  it  is  certain,  that  bodily 
baptism  or  washing  is  of  little  avail,  unless  there  goes  with  it 
the  washing  of  the  mind  by  the  Holy  Ghost  from  original  or 
actual  sin  ;  for  herein  is  a  fundamental  article  of  belief,  that 
whenever  a  man  is  duly  baptized,  baptism  destroys  whatever 
sin  was  found  in  the  man."  There  is  still  a  third  opinion  ex- 
pressed about  children  dying  unbaptized.  "  I  think  it  probable 
that  Christ  might,  without  any  such  washing,  spiritually  bap- 
tize, and  by  consequence  save  infants." 

Again,  on  the  validity  of  baptism,  he  writes :  "  When  an  in- 
fidel baptizes  a  child,  not  supposing  that  baptism  to  be  of  any  avail 
for  his  salvation,  we  are  not  to  regard  such  a  baptism  as  service- 
able to  the  baptized.  Yet  we  believe  that  where  any  old  woman 
or  despised  person  duly  baptizes  with  water,  God  completes  the 
baptism  of  the  Spirit  along  with  the  words  of  the  sacrament." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


It  will  be  seen,  from  these  various  quotations,  that  Wycliffe's 
mind  was  not  entirely  free  from  Popish  errors  on  the  subject  of 
baptism ;  but  the  half-truths  he  uttered  set  other  men  thinking ; 
and,  by  the  aid  of  the  New  Testament,  which  Wycliffe  put  into 
their  hands,  many  of  his  followers  openly  avowed  distinct  Bap- 
tist opinions.     Especially  was  this  the  case  with 

The  Bible-men. 

East  Anglia,  Middlesex,  Kent,  Hereford,  and  the  Midland 
Counties,  were  the  chief  centres  of  their  influence.  Like  Beren- 
gar,  they  refused  to  take  their  children  to  the  church  to  be 
baptized.  At  Amersham,  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  they  were 
numerous  during  the  later  half  of  the  Fourteenth  Century,  they 
were  commonly  known  by  the  people  as  Just- fast-men,  and 
Known-men,  on  account  of  their  fidelity  to  each  other  during 
the  fierce  persecutions  they  had  to  suffer.  "  The  heretics  and 
Lollards  of  Wycliffe's  opinions  were  at  first  permitted  to  preach 
abroad  boldly,  to  gather  conventicles  unto  them,  to  keep  schools 
in  men's  houses,  to  write  books,  to  complete  treatises,  and 
write  ballads  ;  to  teach  privately  in  angles  and  corners,  as  in 
woods,  pastures,  meadows,  groves,  and  caves  in  the  ground  ;  " 
the  monks  attributing  their  eloquence  and  ready  skill  as  dis- 
putants to  the  direct  help  of  the  devil.  The  whole  country 
was  leavened  with  Wycliffe's  opinions,  and  the  opinions  of  the 
Bible-men  ;  and  the  storm  of  clerical  rage  that  presently  burst 
over  them,  while  it  "rooted  out"  some  of  these  "evil  weeds 
and  offendicles,  planted  by  the  new  and  damnable  Lollardie," 
as  the  persecuting  priests  were  pleased  to  call  them,  still  left 
many  disciples  untouched  by  its  fury. 

The  Chesterton  Separatists. 

It  is  now  our  unpleasant  duty  to  mar  a  very  agreeable 
picture,  painted  by  Bobcrt  Robinson,  and  quoted  by  nearly 
every  Baptist  historian  since  his  day.  In  a  "Brief  Dissertation 
on  the  Ministry  of  the  Divine  Word  by  Public  Preaching,"  pre- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  15 

fixed  to  the  second  volume  of  his  translation  of  Claude's  Essay 
on  the  Composition  of  a  Sermon,  Mr.  Eobinson  writes  : — 

"  I  have  seen  enough  to  convince  me  that  the  present  English 
Dissenters,  contending  for  the  sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
for  primitive  Christian  liberty  to  judge  of  its  meaning,  may  be 
traced  back,  in  authentic  manuscripts,  to  the  Nonconformists, 
to  the  Puritans,  to  the  Lollards,  to  the  Vallenses  (Waldenses), 
to  the  Albigenses,  and,  I  suspect,  through  the  Paulicians,  and 
others,  to  the  Apostles.     These  churches  had  sometimes  a  clan- 
destine existence  ;  and  at  other  times  a  visible,  I  wish  I  could 
say  a  legal  one  :  but,  at  all  times,  they  held  more  truth  and  less 
error  than  the  prevailing  factions  that  persecuted  them.     One 
branch  uniformly  denied  the  baptism   of  infants ;  all  allowed 
Christian   liberty;    and   all   were   enemies    to   the    established 
hierarchy  reigning  over  the  consciences  of  their  brethren."     So 
far    Robinson   is   correct.      But   when   he   proceeds    to   write 
about  certain  men,  since  known  as  the  Chesterton  Separatists, 
he   generalises   too   hastily.     His  words   are: — "I  have  now 
before  me  a  manuscript  Register  of  Gray,  Bishop  of  Ely,  which 
proves,   that  in  the  year  1457,  there  was  a  congregation  of 
this  sort  in  this  village,  Chesterton,  where  I  live,  who  privately 
assembled  for  Divine  worship,  and  had  preachers  of  their  own, 
who  taught  them  the  very  doctrine  which  now  we  preach.     Six 
of  them  were  accused  of  heresy  before  the  tyrant  of  the  dis- 
trict, and  condemned  to  abjure    heresy,  and   to  do  penance, 
half  naked,  with  a  faggot  at  their  backs,  and  a  taper  in  their 
hands,  in  the  public  market-places  of  Ely  and  Cambridge,  and 
in  the  churchyard  of  Great  Swaifham.     It  was  a  pity  the  poor 
fools  were  forced  to  abjure  the  twelfth  article  of  their  accusa- 
tion, in  which  they  were  said  to  have  affirmed,  that  '  all  priests 
and  people  in  orders  were  incarnate  devils ! '   .   .  The  thirteenth 
article  objected  against  the  above-mentioned   Chesterton  cul- 
prits, by  the  bishop,  in  his  Consistory  at  Downton,  is  this  : — 
'Also,  you  affirm,  that  every  man  may  be  called  a  church  of 
God,  so  that  if  any  one  of  you  should  be  summoned  before 


1 6  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

his  ecclesiastical  judge,  and  should  happen  to  be  asked  this 
question,  Do  you  believe  in  the  Church?  he  may  fairly  answer, 
that  he  does ;  meaning  that  he  believes  in  the  Church,  because 
he  believes  the  Church  is  in  every  man,  who  is  a  temple  of 
God.'  Now  is  not  this  affirming,  that  every  good  man  was 
bound  to  follow  his  own  judgment  in  religious  matters,  and 
not  to  be  set  down  by  a  domineering  faction,  calling  them- 
selves tJie  church  ?  Is  a  man  strong  for  being  called  a  Samson, 
or  wise  for  naming  himself  Solomon  ?  Does  it  not  mean  that 
every  man  had  as  much  right  of  judging  in  himself  solely  as 
the  whole  community  had  collectively  ?  We  go  further,  and 
prove  that  these  six  men,  although  all  in  one  community,  did 
not  all  hold  the  same  articles  ;  some  agreed  to  one,  and  some 
to  another.  But  they  all,  the  Eegister  says,  affirmed  the 
thirteenth.  Does  not  this  prove  that  their  ecclesiastical 
economy  allowed  a  Christian  liberty,  and  that  they  held  a 
mixed  communion  ?" 

A  recent  examination  of  Gray's  Eegister  (still  preserved  in 
the  University  Library  of  Cambridge,  and  known  as  the  Baker 
Manuscripts)  shows  that  Robinson  consulted  the  Register 
hurriedly,  and  was  thus  led  into  several  errors.  He  is  right  in 
saying  that  one  of  the  men  who  were  examined  by  Bishop 
Gray,  "the  tyrant  of  the  district,""  confessed  that  he  had 
taught  and  affirmed  certain  false  articles  and  opinions,  and  also 
that  he  had  been  present  when  such  articles  and  opinions  were 
taught,  learned,  and  affirmed  by  others.'"  In  other  words,  that 
he  and  others  belonged  to  a  body  of  men  who,  if  not  a  church, 
according  to  the  Prayer-book  definition  of  a  church — ("  a  con- 
gregation of  faithful  men,  in  which  the  pure  Word  of  God  is 
preached,  and  the  sacraments  are  duly  administered  according 
to  Christ's  ordinance,  in  all  those  things  that  are  of  necessity 

*  Gray  was  not  destitute  of  humanity,  at  least,  to  those  of  his  own  faith 
Even  in  his  old  age,  John  Capgrave,  the  chronicler  and  monk  of  King's  Lynn. 
"  Remembers  with  what  pious  attention  Gray  showed  his  affection  towards 
him  when  a  wretched  pilgrim,  and  lying  ill  at  Rome." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  17 

requisite  to  the  same") — had  yet  meetings  of  their  own  for 
Divine  worship,  and  teachers  among  them,  judging  from  the 
terms  of  Bishop  Gray's  indictment,  able  to  express  themselves 
with  distinctness  and  force.  But  Robinson  is  wrong  in  saying 
that  they  were  six  men,  and  that  their  meeting  was  held  in 
Chesterton.  The  Register  mentions  but  three  men,  and  only 
one  of  them  lived  in  the  village  where  Robinson  resided  at  the 
time  of  writing  his  often-quoted  words.  The  names  of  these 
men  were — John  Baile,  of  Chesterton ;  Robert  Sparke,  of 
Reche,  in  the  parish  of  Swaffham ;  and  John  Crud,  alius 
Crowd,  of  Cambridge. 

In  addition  to  the  opinions  quoted  by  Robinson,  which  these 
men  were  charged  with  holding,  we  may  now  add  some  others, 
especially  as  they  reveal  still  further  the  character  of  their 
belief.  They  are  charged  with  asserting  "that  fasting  is  not 
binding  on  labourers  and  married  people,  but  only  on  clericos 
et  religiosos — the  priests  and  monks."  They  affirmed,  "that 
there  was  no  benefit  in  burial  in  consecrated  ground,  and  that 
the  money  spent  thereby  would  be  better  applied  to  the  poor 
than  given  to  gratify  the  avarice  of  the  priests."  They  repre- 
sented transubstantiation  as  a  vain  oblation.  They  declared, 
"  that  it  was  better  to  confess  to  a  man  cut  off  from  the  fellow- 
ship of  the  faithful  (the  Romish  Church),  than  to  a  priest." 
They  taught,  "  that  as  God  was  the  searcher  of  hearts,  mental 
prayer  in  the  fields  was  as  profitable  as  oral  prayer  in  a 
church."  They  held,  concerning  marriage,  "  that  the  priest's 
presence  was  merely  required  at  its  celebration  for  the  sake  of 
gain."  "Extreme  unction,"  they  confessed,  "  did  no  good  to 
the  soul,  and  only  defiled  the  body." 

Baptists  have  too  readily  claimed  these  men  as  holding  their 
opinions,  since,  according  to  the  third  count  in  the  indict- 
ment, all  that  they  affirmed  on  this  subject  was,  "  that  children 
neither  have  need  of  baptism,  nor  ought  they  to  be  baptized, 
since  the  baptism  of  their  parents  was  sufficient."  It  was, 
however,  by  no  means  uncommon  for  the  Romish  clergy  in 

c 


1 8  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

those  days  thus  to  describe  the  Baptist  opinions  held  by  many 
of  the  Lollards.  Fox,  the  Martyrologist,  himself  no  great 
admirer  of  Baptists,  quoting  a  similar  accusation  against  the 
Norwich  Lollards  some  years  before  the  date  at  which  Sparke 
and  his  friends  were  examined  by  Bishop  Gray,  suggests, 
"  that  the  thing  is  so  contrary  to  the  manifest  word,  that  it 
is  not  to  be  thought  any  to  be  so  ignorant  of  the  Gospel  that 
they  ever  would  or  did  affirm  the  same."  Whether,  therefore, 
these  men  were  Baptists  still  remains  doubtful ;  but  that 
they  were  unable  to  bear  the  strain  put  upon  them  by  Bishop 
Gray  is  too  patent  from  the  Bishop's  Register.  Robert  Sparke 
was  first  examined,  and  endeavoured  to  defend  his  opinions  ; 
was  reasoned  with,  and  recanted.  He  was  nevertheless  ex- 
communicated;  but  on  subsequent  evidence  of  repentance, 
and  swearing  obedience,  he  was  forgiven,  the  following  pen- 
ance being  imposed: — "That  on  the  eve  of  Pentecost  next 
you  shall  walk  about  the  market-place  of  Ely,  when  most 
people  were  there,  wearing  only  your  shirt  and  breeches  (solis 
comitia  et  hraccis  i)idutus),  bearing  a  faggot  upon  your  back, 
humbly  carrying  a  wax  taper  in  your  hand,  and  declaring 
publicly  the  reasons  for  your  penance."  On  the  eve  of  Trinity 
next  he  was  to  do  the  same  in  the' Cambridge  market.  Also, 
on  the  next  Sunday,  after  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  and  on 
the  Sunday  following  that,  he  was  to  do  penance  in  like 
manner  in  the  parish  church  of  Swaffham.  Sparke  was  com- 
pelled to  swear  "  that  from  that  hour  he  would  neither  hold 
nor  propagate  any  opinion  against  orthodoxy  ;  nor  in  any  way 
favour  such,  nor  yet  go  to  convent  i  calm  illicitae,  unlawful  con- 
venticles ; "  a  clear  proof  that  such  Conventicles  did  actually 
at  that  time  exist ;  but  not  that  one  existed  at  Chesterton,  where 
Robinson  was  living  at  the  time  he  quotes  "  Gray's  Register." 
The  sentences  on  Crowd  and  Baile  were  similar,  save  that  the 
places  of  church  penance  were  Cambridge  and  Chesterton.* 

*  From  the  Paston  Letters,  a  few  quotations  illustrating  the  national  and 
social  history  of  England  at  this  time  (1457)  may  be  given.     One,  William 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  ig 

Before  leaving  the  Baker  Manuscripts,  in  which  the  above 
facts  are  recorded,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  give  another 
quotation  referring  to  events  which  happened  about  twenty- 
six  years  (1431)  before  the  date  of  Bishop  Gray's  examination 
of  Sparke  and  his  friends.  It  appears,  from  this  entry,  that 
a  proclamation  had  been  issued  by  Henry  the  Sixth,  "  against 
certain  heretics  and  Lollards."  They  are  charged  with  hold- 
ing "  errors  tending  to  the  subversion  of  religion  and  govern- 
ment, and  with  circulating  false  and  seditious  tracts  (billce 
falscB  et  scditioncs)"  "Whoever  had  such,  "shall  immediately 
tear  them  into  small  fragments,  or  burn  them;"  and  "any 
one  failing  in  this  is  to  be  held  answerable  as  the  author,  until 
he  find  the  author."  Proclamation  is  further  to  be  made, 
"  that  any  one  informing  against  another  who  has  written,  or 
stuck  up,  or  in  any  way  communicated  such  a  tract,  shall,  on 
conviction,  receive  a  sure  reward  of  twenty  pounds  (about 
£180  in  our  money),  and  half  the  property  of  the  person  con- 
victed."    Power  was  also  given  to  arrest  or  imprison  persons 

Conyn,  a  wealthy  merchant  of  Bristol,  and  the  mayor  of  that  year,  showed  his 
patriotism  by  offering  to  build,  at  his  own  cost,  "  a  stately  vessel,  only  for  the 
warre ;"  and,  owing  to  the  fear  of  a  French  invasion,  "  the  lords  appointed  to 
keep  the  sea  were  making  hem  redye  yn  all  haste ;"  not  a  whit  too  soon,  as 
events  afterwards  proved.  All  this  time,  the  common  every-day  life  of  the 
people  went  on  as  usual ;  and  very  curious  are  the  revelations  found  of  it  in 
this  collection  of  Letters.  For  instance,  one  lays  bare  the  anxiety  of  a  good 
mother  about  her  son,  who  was  at  school  in  London.  Judging  from  the 
mother's  letter,  Clement  Paston  had  a  better  wardrobe  than  wit.  Although 
carefully  describing  the  "  five  gowns,"  and  their  colours  and  respective  ages, 
his  mother  shows  that  her  chief  trouble  is  about  Clement's  dulness, — a  dulness 
that  prompts  her  to  think  that  he  must  be  "trewly  belassched"  (whipped) 
unless  he  mends,  telling  the  London  friend  to  whom  she  writes,  that  that 
was  how  his  former  master  at  Cambridge  treated  him,  "  and  the  best  he  ever 
had,"  says  the  reflecting  mother.  But  thinking  of  the  disgrace  of  failure  in 
the  new  school,  she  adds,  with  more  energy  than  tenderness,  "  I  had  lever 
(rather)  he  were  fairly  buried  than  lost  for  default."  During  the  same  year, 
"thieves  and  malefactors  had  justice  done  upon  them  daily,  for  which  the 
people  were  glad."  Moreover,  perhaps  in  prospect  of  war,  "  the  soldiers  were 
more  temperate  than  they  were." 

c2 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


in  any  way  circulating  such  hillcr.  The  Proclamation  is 
addressed  by  the  King  to  the  Sheriff  of  London,  and  a  similar 
brief  -was  sent  to  all  the  sheriffs  of  England. 

The  inference,  therefore,  is  plain  :  at  that  time  numerous 
books,  advocating  the  opinions  of  the  Lollards,  were  in  general 
circulation  throughout  all  parts  of  the  country  ;  and,  as  man)' 
of  the  Lollards  held  and  advocated  Baptist  opinions,  the  seed 
of  future  harvests  was  thus  being  widely  scattered. 


CHAPTER  II. 

ANCIENT  BAPTIST  CHURCHES  IN  ENGLAND. 

Hill  Cliffe,  near  Warrington. 

WE  have  reliable  evidence  that  a  Separatist,  and,  probably, 
a  Baptist  Church,  has  existed  for  several  centuries  in 
a  secluded  part  of  Cheshire,  on  the  borders  of  Lancashire,  about 
a  mile  and  a-half  from  Warrington.  No  spot  could  be  better 
chosen  for  concealment  than  the  site  on  which  this  ancient 
chapel  stood.  Removed  from  all  public  roads,  enclosed  by 
a  dense  wood,  affording  ready  access  into  two  counties,  Hill 
Cliffe  was  admirably  suited  for  the  erection  of  a  conventicula 
illicit  a,  an  illegal  conventicle.  The  ancient  chapel  built  on  this 
spot  was  so  constructed  that  the  surprised  worshippers  had 
half-a-dozen  secret  ways  of  escaping  from  it,  and  long  proved 
a  meeting-place  suited  to  the  varying  fortunes  of  a  hated  and 
hunted  people. 

Owing  to  the  many  changes  inseparable  from  the  eventful 
history  of  the  church  at  Hill  Cliffe,  the  earliest  records  have 
been  lost.  But  two  or  three  facts  point  to  the  very  early  exis- 
tence of  the  community  itself.  In  1841  the  then  old  chapel 
was  enlarged  and  modernised  ;  and,  in  digging  for  the  founda- 
tion, a  large  baptistry  of  stone,  well-cemented,  was  discovered. 
How  long  this  had  been  covered  up,  and  at  what  period  it  was 
erected,  it  is  impossible  to  state  ;  but  as  some  of  the  tombstones 
in  the  graveyard  adjoining  the  chapel  were  erected  in  the  early 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


part,  of  the  Sixteenth  Century,  there  is  some  probability  for  the 
tradition  that  the  chapel  itself  was  built  by  the  Lollards  who 
held  Baptist  opinions.  One  of  the  dates  on  the  tombstones  is 
1357,  the  time  when  Wycliffe  was  still  a  Fellow  at  Merton 
College,  Oxford  ;  but  the  dates  most  numerous  begin  at  the 
period  when  Europe  had  just  been  startled  by  Luther's  valiant 
onslaught  upon  the  Papacy,  and  Henry  the  Eighth  had  recently 
published  his  book  against  the  German  Reformer,  which  earned 
for  him  the  title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith."  Many  of  these 
tombstones,  and  especially  the  oldest,  as  we  can  testify  from 
a  personal  examination,  look  as  fresh  and  clear  as  if  they  were 
engraved  only  a  century  ago. 

The  names  of  some  of  the  early  ministers  of  Hill  Cliffe  chapel 
have  been  snatched  from  oblivion.  One  of  them,  My.  Weyer- 
burton,  or  Warburton,  was  related  to  the  oldest  family  in  the 
county  of  Chester,  was  a  person  of  substance,  and  "  a  true 
warrior  of  Christ's  Church."  His  connection  with  Hill  Cliffe 
chapel,  as  its  minister,  was  accidentally  discovered  some  years 
ago  in  examining  the  title-deeds  of  the  Warburton  property. 
Mr.  Weyerburton  died  six  years  after  the  destruction  of  the 
Spanish  Armada.  A  record  of  this  good  man's  life,  if  one  could 
obtain  it,  would  throw  much  light  upon  the  condition  of  the 
Separatists  and  Anabaptists  in  England  during  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth. 

Although  Mr.  Weyerburton  is  the  first  minister  of  Hill  Cliffe 
of  whom  anything  is  known,  he  is  not  necessarily  to  be  regarded 
as  the  earliest  minister  of  the  congregation.  Mr.  Dainteth  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Weyerburton.  The  graveyard  contains  the  tomb  of 
his  successor — Thomas  Slater  Leyland,  "  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel,"  as  the  inscription  tells  us.  He  was  buried  in  the  year 
preceding  the  death  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  At  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War,  Mr.  Tillam  was  the  minister  of  Hill  Cliffe. 
Oliver  Cromwell  worshipped  at  the  chapel  when  his  army  lay  at 
Warrington,  and  one  of  his  officers  occupied  the  pulpit.  Thomas 
Lowe  succeeded  Mr.  Tillam,  and  attended  the  General  Assembly 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


of  Baptists  held  in  London  the  year  after  the  landing  of  William, 
Prince  of  Orange.  This  (1689)  was  also  the  date  of  the  passing 
of  the  Act  of  Toleration,  from  which  period,  as  every  Dissenter 
knows,  really  begins  the  legal  diffusion  of  Nonconformity  through- 
out Great  Britain.  During  the  pastorate  of  the  next  minister, 
Mr.  Francis  Turner,  a  man  of  great  ability,  of  restless  zeal,  and 
of  extensive  usefulness,  the  first  Baptist  church  was  formed  in 
Liverpool,  mainly  through  the  labours  of  some  of  Mr.  Turner's 
converts. 

Hill  Cliffe  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  oldest  Baptist  churches 
in  England,  but  its  claim  to  be  the  oldest  is  still  disputed  by 
some.  The  earliest  deeds  of  the  property  have  been  irrecover- 
ably lost,  but  the  extant  deeds,  which  go  back  considerably 
over  two  hundred  years,  describe  the  property  as  being  "  for 
the  use  of  the  people  commonly  called  Anabaptists."  The 
modern  chapel  stands  upon  the  gentle  slope  of  a  sandstone  hill. 
The  wood  which  embosomed  the  ancient  sanctuary  has  long  since 
been  cut  down,  and  the  present  modest  meeting-house  is  con- 
spicuous from  afar, — from  the  streets  of  quaint  old  Warrington, 
and  from  the  wide  reach  of  level  country  by  which  that  historic 
town  is  surrounded. 

Eythorne,  Kent. 

The  church  at  Eythorne,  Kent,  owes  its  origin  to  some  Dutch 
Baptists,  who  settled  in  this  country  in  the  time  of  Henry  the 
Eighth.  They  were,  doubtless,  tempted  to  make  England  their 
home  by  the  brisk  trade  that  sprang  up  between  this  country 
and  Holland,  soon  after  the  marriage  of  Henry  with  Anne  of 
Cleves  (1540).  According  to  a  long  prevalent  tradition,  ("  unin- 
terrupted and  uncontradicted,"  says  one  authority,)  Joan 
Boucher,  or  Joan  of  Kent,  was  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church 
at  Eythorne.  Joan  was  a  lady  of  some  position,  and  had 
ready  access  to  the  court.  Much  of  her  time  was  spent  in 
visiting  her  friends  in  prison,  and  in  relieving,  with  a  bountiful 
hand,  their  necessities.    For  the  greater  secrecy,  she  was  accus- 


24  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

tomed  to  tie  religious  books  in  strings  under  her  dress,  and  so 
the  more  readily  pass  with  them  into  Court.  Strype  says  that 
she  did  very  much  to  promote  the  circulation  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament,  then  recently  published.  A  great  reader  of  the 
Scriptures  herself,  she  sought  to  persuade  others  to  follow  her 
example.  The  Protestant  Inquisitors,  hearing  that  she  held 
some  unusual  views  on  the  physical  body  of  Christ,  sum- 
moned her  to  appear  "  in  the  chapel  of  the  blessed  Mary  in 
St.  Paul's."  Long  and  tedious  examinations  followed.  Joan 
was  cast  into  prison.  Cranmer,  Latimer,  and  others,  here 
sought  to  reason  her  out  of  her  opinions.  She  remained 
unmoved,  and  was  therefore  "left  to  the  secular  arm  to  suffer 
her  deserved  punishment,"  for  daring,  that  is,  to  think  differently 
from  prelates  so  grave,  and  a  church  so  recently  reformed. 
Nearly  twelve  months  elapsed  before  her  sentence  was  executed. 
Modern  writers  have  sought  to  throw  the  blame  of  her  martyr- 
dom on  the  Council,  and  thus  shield  Cranmer  from  its  odium. 
Others  regard  as  purely  mythical  the  story  of  Edward's  tears 
when  asked  to  sign  Joan's  death  warrant,  and  Hallam  thinks 
that  the  tale  ought  to  vanish  from  history.  However  this  may 
be,  on  the  2nd  of  May,  1550,  Joan  of  Kent  was  led  out  to 
Smithfield.  Even  at  the  stake,  she  was  still  worried  by  the 
slanders  and  misrepresentations  of  her  enemies,  and  to  Bishop 
Scorey,  who  repeated  them,  Joan  answered,  with  the  plain 
speech  that  distinguished  the  age,  "  You  lie  like  a  rogue.  Go, 
read  the  Scriptures."  The  Bishop  might  need  the  advice,  for 
aught  that  appears  to  the  contrary. 

In  the  Calendar  of  State  Papers  (Domestic  Series,  1547 — 
1580),  under  the  date  of  October  28th,  1552,  we  have  this 
entry:  "  Northumberland,  to  Sir  William  Cecill.  Wishes  the 
King  would  appoint  Mr.  Knox  to  the  Bishopric  of  Rochester. 
He  would  be  a  whetstone  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
a  confounder  of  the  Anabaptists  lately  sprung  up  in  Kent."  It 
would  be  historically  inaccurate  to  regard  this  as  the  first  inti- 
mation of  the  existence  of  Baptists,  as  a  separate  community  in 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  25 

England.  Apart  from  the  probabilities  about  the  still  earlier 
origin  of  Hill  Clifte  Church,  it  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
Henry  the  Eighth  had  long  before  1550  proclaimed  to  the 
nation  how,  "  like  a  good  Catholic  priest,  he  abhorred  and 
detested  their  (the  Anabaptists')  wicked  and  abominable  errors 
and  opinions;"  that  in  his  second  proclamation,  he  had  warned 
all  Anabaptists  and  Zwinglians  to  depart  out  of  the  country, 
under  pain  of  death ;  and  that  in  a  third  proclamation,  when 
Cranmer  was  a  Protestant  archbishop,  Cranmer  and  eight  others 
were  authorized  to  make  diligent  search  for  Anabaptist  men, 
Anabaptist  letters,  and  Anabaptist  books,  full  power  being  put 
into  Cranmer' s  hands  to  deal  capitally  with  each  offender. 
The  Baptists,  in  King  Edward's  days,  might  have  lately  sprung 
up  in  Kent,  but  these  proclamations  show  that  they  were  not 
then  known  for  the  first  time  in  England. 

One  singular  fact,  perhaps  without  a  parallel,  in  the  history 
of  this  ancient  General  Baptist  church  at  Eythorne,  deserves  to 
be  mentioned :  the  names  of  the  pastors,  from  the  close  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century  to  the  last  quarter  of  the  Seventeenth  Century, 
were  John  Knott.  The  first  John  Knott  became  the  pastor  of 
Eythorne  somewhere  between  1590  and  1600,  and  the  last 
John  Knott  removed  to  Chatham  in  1780.  One  of  these 
Mr.  Knotts,  it  is  uncertain  which,  was  a  blacksmith,  and 
attracted  the  notice  of  the  informers  by  his  zeal  as  a  preacher. 
Whilst  working  in  his  shop,  some  friend  brought  him  word  that 
an  officer  and  a  party  of  men  were  coming  over  Eythorne 
Down  to  pounce  upon  him.  Knott  hurriedly  escaped  by  a  back 
door,  and  hid  himself  in  an  old  saw-pit,  covered  by  nettles  and 
other  weeds.  Presently  the  informers  came  into  Mr.  Knott's 
house,  where  they  found  his  wife,  with  a  child  in  her  arms. 
On  asking  for  Mr.  Knott,  the  little  child,  suspecting  no  danger, 
cried  out,  "Daddy's  gone  out!"  and  would,  perhaps,  have 
further  betrayed  its  father's  whereabouts,  but  for  a  vigorous 
shaking  from  the  mother,  who  at  length  succeeded  in  making  it 
hold  its  tongue.     "While  "  the  man- takers  "  searched  about  the 


26  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

house  and  neighbourhood  for  her  husband,  Mrs.  Knott,  with 
great  presence  of  mind,  bustled  about  the  house,  and  put  out 
the  humble  dinner  for  her  family.  The  search  proving  fruitless, 
and  the  men  finding  the  family  dinner  smoking  on  the  table 
when  they  returned,  asked  Mrs.  Knott  to  give  them  some 
refreshment.  This  she  did  instantly,  and  with  the  greatest 
cheerfulness.  Mrs.  Knott's  kindness  told  favourably  upon  the 
informers.  They  were  so  well  satisfied  with  her  treatment  of 
them,  that  they  left  the  house,  declaring  they  would  make 
no  further  search  after  her  husband,  nor  do  anything  to  distress 
so  good-natured  a  woman.  For  that  time,  at  least,  Mr.  Knott 
escaped  out  of  their  hands.  It  is  also  said,  probably  concern- 
ing the  same  man,  that  on  another  occasion  his  goods  were 
confiscated  and  put  up  to  auction.  So  much  was  he  respected 
by  his  neighbours,  that  not  one  of  them  would  even  offer  a  bid 
for  his  goods  at  the  sale  ;  and  the  strangers  who  were  present, 
taking  their  cue  from  his  neighbours,  also  declined  to  purchase 
them.     Mr.  Knott's  goods,  therefore,  remained  unsold. 

It  is  worthy  of  record  that  the  Church  of  Christ  in  this  little 
village  has  existed  for  more  than  three  hundred  years  without 
a  single  unfriendly  division,  and  with  a  steadfast  adherence  to 
the  faith  and  practice  of  the  Primitive  Church. 

Booking  and  Braintree,  Essex. 
In  Strype's  Ecclesiastical  Memorials,  we  find  these  words, 
under  date  1550:  "Sectaries  appeared  now  in  Essex  and 
Kent,  sheltering  themselves  under  the  profession  of  the  Gospel, 
of  whom  complaint  was  made  to  the  Council.  These  were  the 
first  that  made  separation  from  the  Church  of  England,  having 
gathered  congregations  of  their  own."  They  were  the  first, 
that  is,  of  which  Strype  had  heard.  "  The  congregation  in 
Essex  was  mentioned  to  be  at  Bocking ;  that  at  Kent  was  at 
Faversham,  as  I  learnt  from  an  old  register.  From  whence 
I  also  collect  that  they  held  the  opinions  of  the  Anabaptists  and 
the  Pelagians ;  that  there  were  contributions  among  them  for 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  27 

the  better  maintaining  of  their  congregations  ;  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation  in  Kent  went  over  with  the  congrega- 
tion into  Essex,  to  instruct  and  join  with  them ;  and  that  they 
had  their  meetings  in  Kent,  and  in  divers  places  besides  Faver- 
sham."  In  other  words,  the  Kent  churches  at  Eythorne, 
Faversham,  Sandwich,  Canterbury,  perhaps,  and  other  places, 
helped  to  build  up,  if  they  did  not  actually  originate,  the  church 
at  Booking. 

Booking  and  Braintree  are  two  parishes  divided  by  the  main 
road,  and  the  whole  is  now  known  as  Braintree.  The  "com- 
plaints," by  whomsoever  made,  against  the  Baptists  at  Book- 
ing, led  to  their  being  watched,  and  about  sixty  persons  were  in 
the  house  when  the  sheriff  interrupted  their  assembly.  Thejr 
confessed  to  the  Council  that  they  had  met  "  to  talk  the  Scrip- 
tures," and  that  they  had  not  communed  at  the  parish  church 
for  two  years.*  Some  were  fined  and  set  at  liberty.  Others 
were  imprisoned,  and  remained  until  Queen  Mary  came  to  the 
throne,  when  they  were  released,  only  again  to  be  taken  into 
custody,  and  by-and-by  to  the  stake. 

Among  the  most  eminent  of  the  ministers  thus  dragged,  for 
conscience'  sake,  before  the  Protestant  Inquisition,  with  Cranmer 
at  its  head,  was  Mr.  Humphrey  Middleton.  By  order  of  Cranmer 
he  was  kept  in  prison  until  the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward 
the  Sixth.  Middleton  is  reported  to  have  said  to  Cranmer,  after 
Cranmer  had  pronounced  his  condemnation:  "Well,  reverend 
sir,  pass  what  sentence  you  think  fit  upon  us.  But  that  you 
may  not  say  you  were  not  forewarned,  I  testify  that  your  turn 
will  be  next."  He  was  one  of  those  who  earned  a  martyr's 
crown  in  the  reign  of  Mary. 

Mr.  Henry  Hart  was  another  of  the  teachers  connected  with 

*  We  are  told  in  Strype's  Memorials  of  Crammer,  that,  on  the  particular 
Sunday  when  these  sixty  men  were  surprised,  "  There  arose  among  them  a 
great  dispute  'Whether  it  were  necessary  to  stand  or  kneel,  bareheaded  or 
covered,  at  prayers  ?  '  and  they  concluded  the  ceremony  not  to  be  material, 
but  that  the  heart  before  God  was  required,  and  nothing  else." 


28  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  churches  in  Kent  and  Essex.  But  little  is  known  of  Hart, 
of  George  Brobridge,  and  of  others,  beyond  their  names.  Hart 
was  imprisoned,  this  much  is  known  of  him,  in  the  dismal  days 
of  Queen  Mary,  and  zealously  combated  in  jail  the  predestina- 
rian  views  of  some  other  victims  of  Mary's  gloomy  and  cruel 
fanaticism.     Bradford  was  one  of  his  opponents. 

The  Bocking-Braintree  church-book,  still  in  existence,  carries 
back  the  authentic  records  of  the  church  for  more  than  two 
hundred  years ;  but  there  is  no  question  that  the  origin  of  the 
church  itself  dates  back  to  the  days  of  Edward  the  Sixth. 

Tiverton,  Devon,  Shrewsbury,  Stoney  Stanton,  and  other 
churches,  claim  to  be  more  than  two  centuries  old,  and  the  first 
is  said  to  have  existed  since  the  last  years  of  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth.  But  the  three  churches  we  have  mentioned — Hill 
Cliffe,  Eythorne,  and  Bocking  deservedly  rank  as  the  most 
ancient  Baptist  churches  in  England. 


CHAPTER   III. 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  BAPTIST  DENOMINATION. 

Smyth,  and  the  General  Baptists. 

ALTHOUGH,  as  we  have  seen,  there  were  a  few  General 
Baptist  churches  in  existence  as  early  as  the  days  of 
Henry  the  Eighth,  the  modern  General  Baptists  rightly  re- 
gard John  Smyth  as  the  father  and  founder  of  their  denomina- 
tion. They  trace  their  history  rather  to  his  efforts,  and  to 
the  labours  of  those  who  were  his  immediate  successors,  than 
to  the  churches  at  Eythorne  or  Bocking.  A  brief  story  of  his 
life  will,  therefore,  not  be  out  of  place  in  these  sketches. 

Among  the  hundreds  in  England  who  felt  the  weight  of  the 
oppressive  ecclesiastical  laws  of  the  Stuarts  was  John  Smyth, 
the  Vicar  of  Gainsborough.  Puritan  rather  than  Anglican, 
Smyth  was  yet  ready  to  enter  the  lists  against  the  Brownists, 
who  were  numerous  in  that  part  of  the  countiy.  His  defence 
of  the  use  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  earned  for  him  the  praise  of 
Bishop  Hall.  By  degrees,  however,  Smyth  became  dissatisfied 
with  the  discipline  and  ceremonies  of  the  Established  Church, 
and  held  a  dispute  on  the  subject  with  Mr.  Hildersham  and 
other  divines.  Further  enquiries  followed.  His  former  doubts 
were  confirmed  ;  and,  like  an  honest  man,  Smyth  gave  up  his 
benefice,  and  all  the  social  and  ecclesiastical  advantages  of  his 
position.  Such  was  the  general  opinion  of  his  integrity  and  his 
gifts,  that  he  was  at  once  invited  to  become  the  pastor  of  one 


30  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

of  the  Brownist  churches  in  Lincolnshire.  Robinson,  the  father 
of  the  English  Independents,  and  Clifton,  were  co-pastors  of 
another  Brownist  church  in  the  same  region.  Owing  to  repeated 
harass  from  the  High  Court  of  Commission,  Smyth,  Robinson, 
Clifton,  and  their  respective  flocks,  decided  to  seek  in  Holland 
the  liberty  they  could  not  obtain  at  home.  Accordingly,  in  1606, 
the  voluntary  exiles  started  for  Amsterdam,  Smyth  acting  as  the 
leader.  He  was  Robinson's  "  guide,"  "  general,"  and  "  oracle," 
according  to  Bishop  Hall ;  and  Ephraim  Pagitt,  in  his  scurrilous 
book,  Heresiography,  describes  Smyth  as  "  one  of  the  grandees 
of  the  separation." 

Once  in  Amsterdam,  Smyth  and  his  fellow  exiles  joined 
the  English  Church,  of  which  Johnson  was  the  pastor,  and 
Ainsworth  the  teacher.  Free  to  pursue  his  religious  enquiries 
unmolested,  Smyth  now  devoted  himself  to  a  diligent  study  of 
the  sacred  Scriptures.  New  light  broke  in  upon  his  mind,  of 
which  he  was  not  slow  to  speak.  The  New  Testament 
churches,  with  their  simple  order  and  discipline,  seemed 
strangely  unlike  the  half  Jewish  society  at  Amsterdam,  with 
which  he  was  united.  He  felt,  moreover,  that  he  could  no 
longer  hold  the  doctrines  of  personal  election  and  reprobation. 
His  faith  was  also  shaken  in  some  other  points  "  assuredly 
believed  among"  the  Amsterdam  Separatists.  He  had  ceased 
to  be  a  Calvinist,  and  had  become  an  Arminian.  Much  talk 
arose  about  these  changes  in  his  opinions.  Meanwhile,  Smyth 
adopted  new  views  on  the  subject  of  baptism. 

The  last  question  came  up  in  reviewing  his  dissent  from  the 
Establishment.  He  and  his  Brownist  friends  had  rejected  the 
ordination  of  the  State  Church,  but  they  still  retained  her 
baptism.  Smyth  now  made  the  subject  his  special  study,  and 
was  speedily  led  to  adopt  believers'  baptism  as  alone  consistent 
with  New  Testament  teaching.  With  his  usual  frankness  he 
openly  and  zealously  advocated  his  new  opinions. 

This  was  more  than  the  charity  of  his  associates  could  bear. 
Arminianism   was   bad   enough;    but   believers'   baptism   was 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  31 

worse ;  at  least  so  thought  Robinson,  Clifton,  and  others. 
Smyth,  and  those  who  sympathised  in  his  opinions,  were  cut 
off  from  the  church.  A  bitter  controversy  broke  out ;  and  his 
former  friends  presently  showed  that  though  they  had  them- 
selves fled  from  persecution,  they  had  not  yet  learnt  the  true 
nature  of  Christian  liberty.  Freedom  meant,  thinking  as  they 
thought ;  and  when  once  Smyth  boldly  announced  his  difference 
of  opinion,  they  placed  him  beyond  the  pale  of  charity.  He 
was  charged  with  "murdering  the  souls  of  babes  and  sucklings, 
by  depriving  them  of  the  visible  seals  of  salvation."  Every 
kind  of  reproach  and  abuse  were  heaped  upon  the  man  whom 
all  had  once  held  in  loving  esteem.  He  was  declared  to  be 
"of  wolfish  nature,"  "a  brute  beast,"  and  one  "whom  God 
had  stricken  with  blindness." 

Smyth  was  not  the  man  to  be  shaken  from  any  position  he 
had  deliberately  taken  by  any  such  harsh  and  unchristian 
treatment.  By  lip  and  by  pen  he  steadily  continued  to  teach 
the  opinions  he  had  accepted,  after  a  careful  and  reverent  study 
of  the  Scriptures.  Men  flocked  about  him,  as  men  always  will 
flock  about  any  teacher  who  speaks  with  the  emphasis  of  per- 
sonal conviction.  A  religious  society  was  gathered,  of  which 
John  Smyth  and  Thomas  Helwys  were  the  pastors.  This 
happened  about  two  years  after  the  Brownist  exiles  reached 
Amsterdam.  How  large  this  church  afterwards  became  is 
matter  of  doubt;  but  an  enemy  of  that  little  band,  distinguished 
by  his  rancorous  spirit,  declares  that  "  Smyth  and  his  disciples 
did  at  once,  as  it  were,  swallow  up  all  the  separation  besides." 

There  is  some  obscurity  as  to  the  kind  of  baptism  first 
adopted  by  Smyth.  He  and  Helwys  baptized  each  other,  and 
afterwards  baptized  the  rest  of  their  company.  But  until  recent 
times  it  was  held  that  this  baptism  was  by  immersion.  Dr. 
Miiller  thinks,  however,  that  facts  contradict  the  long-prevalent 
tradition.  He  assures  us  that  the  branch  of  the  Mennonite  church 
with  which  Smyth  and  his  friends  were  afterwards  associated, 
never  administered  baptism  in  any  other  way  than  by  affusion 


32  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

or  by  sprinkling.  Moreover,  a  letter  from  Lubbert  Gerritt,  one 
of  the  Mennonites,  who  interested  himself  in  Smyth  and  his 
party,  distinctly  states  as  a  reason  for  their  acceptance  by  the 
Dutch  association  of  churches,  that,  "  inquiring  for  the  foun- 
dation and  forms  of  their  baptism,  we  have  found  that  there  was 
no  difference  at  all,  neither  in  the  one  thing  nor  the  other, 
between  them  and  us."  It  is  equally  plain,  however,  from 
Smyth's  letter  to  Clifton,  and  from  Smyth's  pamphlet  occa- 
sioned by  the  correspondence,  that  he  rejected  the  baptism  of 
infants  as  unscriptural.  "  True  baptism,"  says  Smyth,  "is  of 
new  creatures,  of  new-born  babes  in  Christ.  False  baptism 
is  of  infants  born  after  the  flesh."  But,  whatever  doubt  may 
hang  over  the  mode  of  baptism  at  first  adopted  by  Smyth  and 
his  friends,  there  is  little  doubt  that  they  afterwards  adopted 
baptism  by  immersion. 

Smyth  has  been  charged  with  being  "  of  an  unsettled  head," 
because  he  desires  in  the  preface  to  one  of  his  books, 
that  his  last  writings  may  always  be  taken  for  his  present 
judgment.  But  the  deplorable  ignorance  of  the  times,  the 
gradual  development  of  truth  in  his  own  mind,  and  the  fact 
that  he  wrote  against  captious  opponents,  are  a  sufficient 
justification  of  this  request.  Nothing  can  be  more  trenchant 
than  Smyth's  reply  to  the  charge  of  fickleness  made  by  the 
writers  of  his  own  day.  "  It  may  be  thought  most  strange," 
says  Smyth,  "  that  a  man  should  ofttimes  change  his  religion ; 
and  it  cannot  be  accounted  a  commendable  quality  in  any  man 
to  make  many  alterations  and  changes  in  such  weighty  matters 
as  are  cases  of  conscience.  This  must  needs  be  true,  and  we 
confess  it,  if  one  condition  be  admitted,  that  the  religion 
which  a  man  changeth  be  the  truth.  For,  otherwise,  to  change 
a  false  religion  is  commendable,  and  to  retain  a  false  religion  is 
damnable.  For  a  man,  if  he  be  a  Turk,  to  become  a  Jew ;  if 
a  Jew,  to  become  a  Papist;  if  a  Papist,  to  become  a  Pro- 
testant, are  all  commendable  changes,  though  they  all  befall  one 
and  the  same  person  in  one  year ;  nay,  if  it  were  possible,  in 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  33 

one  month.  So  that,  to  change  religion  is  not  evil  simply ; 
and,  therefore,  that  we  should  fall  from  the  profession  of  Puri- 
tanism to  Brownism,  and  from  Brownism  to  true  Christian 
baptism,  is  not  simply  evil  or  reprovable  in  itself,  except  it  can 
be  proved  that  ice  have  fallen  from  true  religion.  If  we,  there- 
fore, being  formerly  deceived  in  the  way  of  Paedo-baptistry,  do 
now  embrace  the  faith  in  the  true  Christian  and  Apostolic 
baptism,  then  let  no  man  impute  this  as  a  fault  in  us." 

It  is  no  part  of  our  plan  to  offer  any  general  defence  of 
Smyth's  opinions,  and  the  opinions  themselves  will  be  best 
learnt  from  his  Confession,  probably,  as  Dr.  Evans  thinks, 
"  the  first  Baptist  creed  of  modern  times."  We  may  be  par- 
doned, however,  for  calling  attention  here  to  the  true  appre- 
hension by  Smyth  of  the  duties  of  the  civil  magistrate  in 
religious  matters.  "  The  magistrate,  by  virtue  of  his  office,  is 
not  to  meddle  with  religion,  or  matters  of  conscience,  nor  to 
compel  men  to  this  or  to  that  form  of  religion  or  doctrine  ; 
but  to  leave  the  Christian  religion  to  the  free  conscience  of 
every  one,  and  to  meddle  only  with  political  matters.  .  .  . 
Christ  alone  is  the  King  and  Lawgiver  of  the  Church  and 
the  conscience." 

Smyth  and  his  disciples  were  called  by  their  former  friends 
heretics  and  free-willers ;  but  not  a  syllable  is  breathed  by  his 
bitterest  opponent  against  his  reputation.  His  unblemished 
character  during  the  time  of  holding  the  Gainsborough  bene^ 
fice,  earned  for  him  the  general  esteem  of  all  parties.  His 
personal  excellence  whilst  with  the  Brownists  in  England,  and 
afterwards  with  the  Separatists  in  Holland,  none  were  disposed 
to  question.  Nor  did  the  keenest  eyes  of  the  men,  who  had 
every  opportunity  of  observing  his  conduct  after  ho  became  a 
Baptist,  detect  anything  with  which  to  upbraid  him,  except  the 
fearlessness  of  his  spirit,  and  the  boldness  with  which  he  advo- 
cated what  he  deemed  to  be  scriptural  truth.  Cotton  Mather's 
reflections  on  Smyth's  dying  steadfastness  in  his  opinions  must 
therefore  be  taken  for  what  they  are  worth.     "  Sad  and  woeful" 


34  BYE -PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

might  be  to  Mather,  "  the  memory  of  Mr.  Smyth's  strong  con- 
solations on  his  death  bed,"  which  were  "  set  as  a  seal  to 
Smyth's  gross  and  damnable  Arminianism  and  enthusiasm;'" 
but  the  regret  of  modern  readers  will  be,  that  so  little  is  known 
respecting  the  life  and  death  of  this  fearless  and  faithful  student 
of  the  Scriptures.     Smyth  died  in  Holland  in  1G12. 

Thomas  Helwys  retained  the  sole  pastorate  of  the  Baptist 
church  after  John  Smyth's  decease.  But  in  1614,  he  and  his 
friends  began  to  think  that  they  had  been  actuated  by  cowardice 
rather  than  prudence  in  escaping  to  Holland  out  of  the  reach 
of  persecution  ;  and  believing,  moreover,  as  they  afterwards 
wrote,  "  that  fleeing  on  account  of  persecution  had  been  the 
overthrow  of  religion  in  this  island,"  they  heroically  returned 
to  England.  A  church  was  formed  in  London.  Smyth's  Con- 
fession,  and  other  pamphlets  advocating  their  opinions  were 
published.  Many  converts  were  thus  won  to  their  faith — "a 
multitude  of  disciples,"  says  one  of  their  opponents — notwith- 
standing the  persecutions  they  had  to   endure. 

The  labours  of  Helwys,  Morton,  and  other  disciples  of  John 
Smyth,  ultimately  led  to  the  formation  of  the  denomination  of 
General  Baptists.  Truth's  Champion,  an  able  defence  of  their 
principles,  by  Morton,  next  to  Smyth's  Confession,  and  Helwys's 
pamphlet,  helped  most  widely  to  diffuse  their  opinions.  A  copy 
of  Morton's  book  was  found  in  Colchester,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  Civil  "War.  It  dropped  out  when  an  old  wall  was  being 
demolished. 

Spilsbury  and  the  Particular  Baptists. 

In  1616  an  Independent  church  was  gathered  in  London. 
Mr.  Henry  Jacob  was  its  first  pastor,  and  Mr.  John  Lathrop 
the  second.  During  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Lathrop,  some  of  the 
members  began  to  think  that  the  church  was  not  adhering  very 
strictly  to  the  first  principles  which  led  to  their  separation  from 
the  Established  Church,  and  had,  moreover,  come  to  regard 
adult  baptism  as   the    only   baptism    warranted  by  Scripture. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  35 

They  therefore  asked  to  be  allowed  to  withdraw,  in  order  to 
ibriu  themselves  into  a  society  more  in  harmony  with  their  own 
views.  Two  things  weighed  with  their  old  friends  in  acceding 
to  their  wishes :  the  receders  were  acting  according  to  the 
dictates  of  their  consciences,  and  the  original  church  had  now 
grown  too  large  to  meet  together,  in  those  perilous  days  for 
Dissenters,  without  molestation.  The  separation  took  place  in 
Sept.,  1633,  and  the  new  church  met  at  Wapping,  at  that  time 
a  pleasant  suburb  of  London.  The  little  society,  which  did  not 
then  consist  of  many  more  than  a  score  members,  called  Mr. 
John  Spilsbury  to  the  pastorate. 

Five  years  after  the  above  date  (1638),  a  further  secession 
from  the  original  church  strengthened  their  hands.  Among  the 
seceders  were  William  Kiffin  and  Thomas  Wilson.  Kiffin,  to 
whose  pen  we  are  indebted  for  the  account  of  the  origin  of 
this  first  Calvinistic  Baptist  church  in  England,  thus  speaks 
of  the  reasons  which  led  to  his  joining  Mr.  Spilsbury  : — "  I  used 
all  endeavours,  by  converse  with  such  as  were  able,  and  also 
by  diligently  searching  the  Scriptures,  with  earnest  desires  to 
God  that  I  might  be  directed  in  a  right  way  of  worship  ;  and, 
after  some  time,  concluded  that  the  safest  way  was  to  follow 
the  footsteps  of  the  flock,  namely,  that  order  laid  down  by 
Christ  and  His  apostles,  and  practised  by  the  primitive  Chris- 
tians in  their  time,  which  I  found  to  be,  after  conversion  they 
were  baptized,  added  to  the  church,  and  continued  in  the 
Apostles'  doctrine  and  fellowship,  and  breaking  of  bread,  and 
prayers." 

Very  little,  has  been  preserved  respecting  Mr.  Spilsbuiy, 
except  that  he  was  a  man  of  reputation  among  his  brethren. 
His  name  appears  in  the  Confession  of  Faith,  published  by  seven 
churches  in  London,  in  1644.  About  eight  years  afterwards 
some  persecuted  Baptists  in  Massachusett's  Colony,  addressed 
a  letter  "  unto  our  well-beloved  John  Spilsbury,  William  Kiffin, 
and  to  the  rest  that  in  London  stand  fast  in  the  faith,  and  con- 
tinued to  walk  steadfastly  in  that  order  of  the  Grospel  which  vvas 

d2 


36  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

once  delivered  to  the  saints  by  Jesus  Christ."  The  following 
year  (1653),  Mr.  Secretary  Thurloe  received  a  letter  from 
Henry  Cromwell,  referring  to  the  agitation  among  the  Anabap- 
tists in  Ireland,  who  had  become  Fifth  Monarchy  men,  and 
objected  to  the  title  of  Lord  Protector  being  given  to  Oliver 
Cromwell,  thinking  it  applicable  to  God  alone.  "  All  are  quiet 
here,"  says  Henry  Cromwell,  "  except  a  few  inconsiderable 
persons  of  the  Anabaptists'  judgment,  who  also  are  very  well 
contented ;  but  I  believe  they  will  receive  much  satisfaction 
from  a  letter  very  lately  come  to  their  hands  from  Mr.  Kiffin 
and  Mr.  Spilsbury,  in  which  they  have  dealt  very  homely  and 
plainly  with  those  of  that  judgment  here."  These  two  facts 
reveal  the  estimate  in  which  Mr.  Spilsbury  was  held  in  America 
and  in  Ireland.  His  name  appears  in  the  Declaration  against 
Vomer's  Rebellion  in  1662 ;  but  in  no  public  document  after 
that  date.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  Mr.  Spilsbury  was 
removed  by  death  soon  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  the 
Second. 

A  quotation  from  Luke  Howard's  Looking-glass  for  Baptists, 
although  containing  the  opinion  of  one  who  had  renounced  his 
Baptist  sentiments,  and  had  become  a  Quaker  (a  very  common 
thing  in  the  days  of  the  Civil  War  and  the  Commonwealth),  is 
not  without  interest.  "In  the  years  16-13-1614  the  people 
called  Baptists  began  to  have  an  entrance  into  Kent ;  and  Ann 
Stevens,  of  Canterbury,  who  was  afterwards  my  wife,  being  the 
first  that  received  them  there,  was  dipped  into  the  belief  and 
church  of  William  Kiffin,  who  then  was  of  the  opinion  com- 
monly called  the  Particular  Election  and  reprobation  of  persons  ; 
and  by  him  was  also  dipped  Nicholas  Woodman,  of  Canterbury, 
myself,  and  Mark  Elfrith,  of  Dover,  with  many  more,  both  men 
and  women,  who  were  all  of  the  opinion  on  that  particular  point, 
and  who  reckoned  themselves  of  the  seven  churches  in  that  day, 
who  gave  forth  a  book,  called  The  Faith  of  the  Seven  Churches, 
which  was  then  opposite  to  the  Baptists  that  held  the  General, 
as  is  still  the  same.     At  which  time  there  was  great  contest 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  37 

between  those  Baptists,  the  General,  as  Lamb,  Barber,  and 
those  who  held  the  universal  love  of  God  to  all,  and  Kiffin, 
Patience,  Spillman  (Spilsbury),  and  Collyer,  and  those  that 
held  the  Particular  Election ;  so  that  if  any  of  the  Particular 
men  or  women  of  the  seven  churches  aforesaid  did  change  their 
opinions  from  the  Particular  to  the  General,  that  then  they  were 
to  be  baptized  again ;  because,  they  said,  you  were  baptized 
into  a  wrong  faith,  and  so  into  another  Gospel,  using  that  say- 
ing, '  If  any  man  bring  any  other  Gospel  than  that  which  we 
have  received,  let  him  be  accursed.'  Whereupon  several 
denied  their  belief  and  baptism,  aud  were  baptized  again  into 
the  General  opinion,  or  belief.  But  Nicholas  Woodman  afore- 
said, with  Mark  Elfrith,  with  all  of  them  in  Kent,  except  Daniel 
Cox,  of  Canterbury,  which  never  baptized  any,  held  their 
baptism  in  the  Particular,  but  changed  their  opinions  to  the 
General,  and  some  to  free-will,  and  the  mortality  of  the  soul, 
and  many  other  things." 

The  Six-Principle  Baptists. 

The  churches  which  held  to  the  "  six  principles  "  were 
never  very  numerous ;  but  any  review  of  English  Baptists 
would  be  incomplete  which  omitted  all  reference  to  them. 

The  General  Assembly,  which  met  in  London  in  1689, 
adopted,  as  their  distinguishing  principles,  personal  election  and 
final  perseverance.  But  some  Baptist  Churches  in  London 
refused  to  subscribe  to  these  opinions,  and  others  as  persistently 
declined  to  sign  any  terms  of  human  composition.  These 
churches  were,  however,  agreed  in  accepting  the  six  principles 
enumerated  in  Hebrews  vi.  1,  2  :  repentance,  faith,  baptism, 
the  laying  on  of  hands,  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  and  eternal 
life.  The  churches  holding  these  opinions  decided  upon  having 
a  small  assembly  of  their  own ;  accordingly,  in  March  1690, 
the  elders,  ministers,  and  representatives  of  five  churches,  all 
situated  in  London,  met  at  White  Street  meeting,  Moorfields. 
They  agreed  that,   "for  the  preservation  of   a  cordial   union 


33  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

among  themselves,  all  the  five  parts  should,  once  every  year, 
meet  together  at  one  place  to  celebrate  our  Lord's  death  in  the 
Supper  ;  only,  whereas,  many  of  our  brethren  which  belong  to 
Goodman's  Field's  meeting,  differing  from  the  other  parts  in 
the  matter  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  they  were  to  have  liberty  to 
absent  themselves  from  that  general  meeting,  if  they  pleased." 

The  five  churches  comprising  this  small  Assembly  were 
White  Street,  or  White's  Alley,  Moorfields  ;  Rupert  Street, 
Goodman's  Fields ;  Glasshouse  Yard,  Goswell  Street ;  Fair 
Street,  formerly  Dock  Head,  or  Shad  Thames ;  and  Duke 
Street,  Southwark.  To  these  rive  churches  were  afterwards 
joined  the  churches  meeting  in  Dunning's  Alley,  Bishopgate 
Without ;  St.  John's  Court,  Hart  Street,  Covent  Garden ;  and 
High  Hall,  West  Smithfield.  This  last  church  was  gathered  by 
Dr.  William  Russell,  an  equally  valiant  opponent  of  "  conjoint 
singing"  and  "  Sabbatarian  Baptists."  Mr.  John  Griffith,  the 
first  pastor  of  the  Dunning's  Alley  Church,  combated  some  of 
the  opinions  held  by  the  Calvinistic  Baptists,  and  in  one  chapter 
of  a  treatise  on  ''Final  Perseverance,"  deals  rather  harshly  with 
"fourteen  absurdities  naturally  flowing  from  the  doctrine  of 
the  impossibility  for  believers  to  fall  finally  from  grace." 

It  has  been  common  to  describe  these  six-principle  Churches 
as  General  Baptists ;  but  at  the  time  of  their  union,  they  were 
actually  composed  of  persons  holding  Arminian  and  Calvinistic 
sentiments.  After  some  years  the  Calvinistic  ministers  and 
members  withdrew  from  them,  and  the  few  churches  that 
remained  were  thenceforward  known  only  as  General  Baptist 
Churches.  Some  "  six-principle  "  churches  still  exist  in  Rhode 
Island. 

The  Seventh-Day  Baptists. 

This  was  a  smaller  society  than  the  six-principle  Bap- 
tists ;  but  like  them,  it  has  preserved  a  few  churches  to  re- 
present its  opinions,  even  in  our  own  day.  They  derived  their 
designation    from  the   fact  that    they   kept  the    Seventh    day 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  39 

us  the  Sabbath.  The}'  objected  to  the  reasons  generally  urged 
for  keeping  the  first  day  of  the  week,  and  contended  that  the 
change  from  the  seventh  day  to  the  first  was  originated  by 
Constantine.  "  God,"  said  they,  "  hath  required  the  obser- 
vance of  the  seventh  or  last  day  of  every  week  to  be  observed 
by  mankind  universally  for  the  weekly  Sabbath.  This  com- 
mand is  perpetualty  binding  upon  man  till  time  shall  be  no 
more.  This  sacred  rest  of  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath  is  not  (by 
Divine  authority)  changed  from  the  seventh  and  last,  to  the  first 
day  of  the  week;  nor  do  the  Scriptures  anywhere  require  the 
observance  of  nny  other  day  of  the  week  for  the  weekly 
Sabbath,  but  the  seventh  day  only." 

The  founder  of  this  section  of  the  Baptist  body  was  Rev. 
Francis  Bampfield,  M.A.,  an  excellent  and  pious  minister.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  the  University  of  Oxford,  and  began  his 
public  life  as  a  minister  of  the  Establishment  in  Dorset.  Here 
his  devotion  to  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office,  his  zeal  for  the 
promotion  of  true  piety,  his  care  for  the  poor  and  the  infirm, 
won  for  him  golden  opinions  among  his  parishioners.  At  the 
outbreak  of  the  civil  war,  Banrpfield  was  a  zealous  Royalist. 
He  hesitated  about  paying  the  taxes  imposed  by  the  Parlia- 
mentarians, and  he  publicly  read  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
longer  than  any  other  clergyman  in  Dorset.  For  his  zeal  in 
the  cause  of  the  Established  Church,  he  had  already  been 
given  a  prebend's  stall  in  Exeter  Cathedral.  At  length  his 
opinions  underwent  an  entire  change,  and  he  confessed  that 
the  Church  of  the  State  needed  a  second  reformation.  To  the 
best  of  his  ability  he  now  sought  to  make  the  teaching  of  Christ 
his  only  rule.  In  1653,  he  subscribed  to  the  Commonwealth. 
Two  years  after  this  date  he  removed  to  Sherborne,  where  he; 
remained  the  faithful  pastor  of  a  necessitous  people,  until  the 
passing  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity  in  1662. 

Now  began  Mr.  Bampfield's  troubles.  After  resigning  his 
living,  he  still  continued  to  preach  in  his  own  house.  He  was 
apprehended   while   thus    conducting   a    service,    and   hurried 


4o  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

off  to  Dorchester  jail.  Nothing  daunted,  he  preached  the 
following  Sunday  in  the  prison  yard,  numbers  of  the  towns- 
people crowding  in  the  open  space  outside  the  prison  and 
within  earshot  of  his  voice.  Released  for  a  time,  Bampfield 
was  again  lodged  in  Dorchester  jail,  and  remained  there  eight 
wearisome  years.  But  they  were  not  years  of  idleness.  He 
preached  in  prison  nearly  every  day,  and  gathered  a  church 
within  its  very  walls.  Set  at  liberty  in  1675,  he  still  went 
on  with  his  preaching,  was  again  seized,  and  this  time,  as  he 
was  apprehended  in  Wiltshire,  was  lodged  in  Salisbury  jail. 
On  account  of  the  heavy  fine  imposed  upon  him,  this  imprison- 
ment lasted  a  year  and  a  half.  On  his  release,  he  came  to 
London,  and  soon  after  avowed  himself  a  Sabbatarian  Baptist. 
A  Church  was  formed  in  March,  1670,  of  persons  holding 
similar  views,  and  "  that  eminently  pious  minister  of  Christ,"  as 
the  original  Church-book  declares,  "Mr.  Francis  Bampfield," 
became  their  pastor,  as  he  had  already  been  their  teacher. 
"We  laid  our  Church  state,"  the  record  continues,  "upon  the 
only  sure  foundation,  and  agree  to  form  and  regulate  it  by 
the  only  certain  rule  and  measure,  expressing  the  nature 
of  the  constitution  of  their  Church  in  the  following  terms  : — 
1  We  own  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  be  the  one  and  only  Lord 
and  Lawgiver  to  our  souls  and  consciences.  And  we  own  the 
Holy  Scriptures  of  truth  as  the  one  and  only  rule  of  faith, 
worship,  and  life  ;  according  to  which  we  are  to  judge  of 
all  cases.'  " 

The  original  meeting-place  of  this  Church  was  Pinner's 
Hall,  Broad  Street,  London ;  but  as  this  place  was  well-known, 
neither  Mr.  Bampfield  nor  his  friends  were  allowed  to  remain 
long  without  molestation.  On  17th  February,  1682,  the  church 
assembled  in  the  forenoon  at  their  usual  hour  for  worship,  and 
Mr.  Bampfield  had  already  commenced  his  sermon,  when  in 
rushed  a  constable,  staff  in  hand,  several  men  with  halberts 
following  at  his  heels.  The  constable  commanded  Bampfield, 
in    the   King's   name,   to   cease  and   come    down.     Bampfield 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


replied  that  he  was  discharging  his  office  in  the  name  of  the 
King  of  kings.  "I  have,"  said  the  constable,  "  a  warrant 
from  the  Lord  Mayor  to  disturb  your  meeting."  "I  have  a 
warrant  from  Jesus  Christ,"  rejoined  Mr.  Bampfield,  "  who 
is  Lord  Maximus,  to  go  on."  Mr.  Bampfield  now  began  to 
resume  his  discourse,  when  the  constable  ordered  one  of  his 
halberdiers  to  pull  him  down.  The  preacher  and  six  of  his 
people  were  taken  before  the  Lord  Mayor,  were  fined  ten 
pounds  each,  and  were  set  at  liberty.  Nothing  daunted,  they 
met  again  in  the  afternoon  ;  and  would  have  proceeded  with 
the  service,  but  for  the  interruption  of  a  constable  and  his 
minions.  The  service  was  resumed  in  Mr.  Bampfield's  own 
house,  whither  a  large  company  followed  him.  A  third  inter- 
ruption occurred  on  the  following  Saturday,  when  the  congre- 
gation had  already  been  assembled  for  some  time.  Mr.  Bamp- 
field was  praying  when  the  constable  entered,  and  did  not  cease 
until  one  of  the  officers  pulled  him  out  of  the  pulpit.  As  he 
was  led  through  the  crowded  streets  to  the  Lord  Mayor,  Bamp- 
field carried  his  Bible  in  his  hand.  Some  of  the  spectators 
sneered  at  him  as  "  a  Christian  Jew,"  but  others  exclaimed, 
"  See  how  he  walks  with  his  Bible  in  his  hand,  like  one  of  the 
old  martyrs !  " 

He  was  remanded  to  the  Sessions,  and  he  and  three  others 
were  committed  to  Newgate.  On  the  28th  March  the  Recorder 
read  out  the  sentence  :  "  that  they  were  out  of  the  protection 
of  the  King's  Majesty,  that  all  their  goods  and  chattels  were  for- 
feited ;  and  that  they  were  to  remain  in  gaol  during  their  lives, 
or  during  the  King's  pleasure."  Mr.  Bampfield  would  have 
spoken  in  reply,  but  a  great  uproar  arose  as  soon  as  he  began 
to  speak.  "Away  with  them!"  cried  some  angry  voices. 
Others  shouted,  "  Put  them  away  from  the  bar.  We  will  not 
hear  them."  They  were  thus  being  rudely  clamoured  down, 
without  any  attempt  to  check  it  on  the  part  of  the  court,  when 
Mr.  Bampfield,  seizing  a  moment's  silence  that  occurred  in  this 
uproar,  exclaimed,   "  The  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness. 


42  BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

The  Lord  be  judge  in  this  case  !  "  Thus  appealing  from  the 
unjust  earthly  judge,  to  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth,  Bampfield 
was  hurried  back  to  Newgate.  A  man  naturally  of  delicate 
frame,  the  hardships  of  his  various  imprisonments  began  to  tell 
on  his  health.  He  had  lived  the  full  period  allotted  by  the 
Psalmist  to  man,  but  the  enfeebled  state  of  his  body,  in  con- 
sequence of  his  long  and  rigorous  imprisonments,  and  the  harsh 
treatment  which  obliged  him  to  remain,  at  his  last  trial,  for  ten 
long  hours  in  a  cold  and  loathsome  bail  dock,  hastened  his  end. 
He  died  on  16th  Feb.,  1683-4,  much  lamented  by  his  fellow- 
prisoners,  as  well  as  by  his  many  friends  and  acquaintances. 
His  body  was  interred,  amidst  a  large  concourse  of  spectators, 
in  the  burial  ground  behind  the  Glasshouse -yard  chapel, 
Goswell-street,  London. 

There  arc  two  congregations  of  Seventh-day  Baptists  in 
England,  one  meeting  in  Mill-yard,  Whitechapel,  and  the  other 
somewhere  in  the  country  ;  but  in  America  the  Seventh-day 
Baptists  are  numerous. 

The  Scotch  Baptists. 

The  section  of  the  Baptist  denomination  known  as  the  Scotch 
Baptists,  "  took  its  rise  in  1765,"  and  mainly  owes  its  exist- 
ence and  increase  to  the  zeal  and  ability  of  one  devoted  man — 
Mr.  Archibald  McLean.  He  had  been  an  earnest  and  conscien- 
tious member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Glasgow,  of  which 
Bev.  John  Maclaurin  was  the  minister  ;  but  having  read  Rev. 
John  Glas's  Testimony  to  the  King  of  Martyrs,  his  faith  was 
shaken  in  the  propriety  of  national  establishments  of  religion. 
This  change  led  to  his  withdrawment  from  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  1762,  and  to  his  uniting  with  a  small  society  of 
Glasites,  or,  as  they  are  better  known  in  Scotland,  the  Sande- 
manians.  A  difference  between  himself  and  this  church  in  a 
case  of  discipline  ended  in  a  speedy  separation  from  them ;  and 
in  1765  he  became  a  Baptist.  The  last  change  in  his  opinions 
originated  in  this  way : — Mr.  Robert  Carmichael,  his  friend  (an 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  43 

Independent  minister  who  had  just  removed  from  Glasgow  to 
Edinburgh),  and  himself  had  talked  together  on  the  subject  of 
infant  baptism.  Both-  felt  at  a  loss  to  find  Scriptural  warrant 
for  it,  but  not  wishing  to  relinquish  their  belief  hastily,  it  was 
agreed  that  each  of  them  should  carefully  consult  the  New 
Testament  on  the  subject,  and  communicate  their  thoughts  upon 
it  to  each  other.  Mr.  McLean  was  the  first  to  arrive  at  the 
conclusion  that  the  baptism  of  infants  had  no  foundation  in  the 
Word  of  God.  He  hastened  to  state  his  reasons  for  this  to 
Mr.  Carmichael,  and  after  some  few  months,  Mr.  Carmichael 
adopted  Baptist  opinions.  In  May  1765,  Mr.  Carmichael  and 
some  of  his  friends  who  sympathised  with  his  wiews,  withdrew 
from  the  Independent  Church,  and  in  October  of  the  same  year 
Mr.  Carmichael  came  to  London,  and  was  baptized  in  Barbican 
by  Dr.  Gill.  Before  the  close  of  the  year  the  seceders  and 
Mr.  McLean  were  baptized  by  Mr.  Carmichael.  In  1766  Mr. 
McLean  published  some  letters  in  Mr.  Glas's  Dissertation  on 
Infant  Baptism,  which  awakened  great  attention  in  Scotland. 
The  following  3-ear  he  removed  to  Edinburgh,  where  he  became 
the  overseer  of  the  extensive  printing  establishment  of  Messrs. 
Donaldson  and  Company,  and  in  June  he  was  unanimously 
elected  by  the  small  Baptist  Church  in  that  city,  as  Mr.  Car- 
michael's  colleague. 

The  church  in  Edinburgh  now  rapidly  increased.  Churches 
were  also  formed  in  Glasgow,  Montrose,  Dundee,  and  other 
towns  in  Scotland.  Mr.  Carmichael  removed  to  Dundee,  and 
Mr.  William  Braidwood,  a  convert  from  the  Independents,  be- 
came joint  elder  with  Mr.  McLean  of  the  Church  in  Edinburgh. 
Mr.  McLean  continued  to  superintend  the  extensive  concern  of 
Donaldson's  printing  office  for  eighteen  years,  and  during  the 
same  period  was  a  zealous  and  faithful  elder  of  the  original 
Scotch  Baptist  Church.  The  further  spread  of  the  distinctive 
principles  of  the  Scotch  Baptists,  not  only  in  Scotland  but  in 
England ;  the  pressure  of  work  which  was  thus  thrown  on  Mr. 
McLean,  not  only  in  answering  numerous  letters   of  enquiry, 


44  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

in  settling  points  of  difference  that  arose  in  some  of  the  new 
churches,  but  also  "in  setting  societies  in  order,  and  in  ordain- 
ing elders  over  them  ;  "  the  difficulty  of  attending  conscien- 
tiously to  his  duties  as  overseer  of  a  large  printing  office  and  of 
meeting  these  various  religious  claims  upon  his  leisure  time  ; 
together  with  the  fact  that  his  health  was  beginning  visibly  to 
suffer,  led  the  Church  at  Edinburgh  to  urge  upon  him  the 
relinquishment  of  his  secular  work,  and  the  acceptance  of 
such  a  salary  from  them  as  they  were  able  to  offer.  He  agreed 
to  their  request  in  1785,  and  now  devoted  himself  with  renewed 
energy  to  the  duties  of  his  sacred  office.  Year  after  year,  in 
addition  to  the  oversight  of  all  the  Churches  of  the  Scotch 
Baptist  persuasion,  pamphlet  after  pamphlet  appeared  from  his 
unwearied  and  prolific  pen.  Some  of  his  publications  were 
greatly  admired  for  their  simplicity,  their  earnestness,  and  their 
eminently  Scriptural  character  by  many  devout  men  of  other 
Christian  denominations.  Mr.  McLean  took  a  lively  interest  in 
furthering  the  regard  of  his  own  people  to  the  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  and  both  by  lip  and  by  pen  helped  greatly  to  extend  in 
Scotland  a  desire  to  co-operate  in  this  great  work. 

About  the  middle  of  Nov.  1812,  he  was  seized  with  dimness 
in  one  of  his  eyes,  and  sought  relief  in  the  application  of 
electricity,  with  but  little  result.  He  still  continued  his  labours 
in  the  Church,  and  preached  as  usual  on  Lord's-day,  Dec.  6th. 
On  the  21st  of  the  same  month  he  fell  asleep,  in  the  eightieth 
year  of  his  age. 

The  opinions  of  the  Scotch  Baptists  will  be  best  given  in 
Mc  Lean's  own  words  : 

"  As  to  their  principles,"  says  Mr.  McLean,  "  they  refer  to 
no  human  system  as  the  unexceptionable  standard  of  their 
faith.  They  think  our  Lord  and  His  Apostles  used  great  plain- 
ness of  speech  in  telling  us  what  we  should  believe  and  practise ; 
and  thence  they  are  led  to  understand  a  great  many  things  more 
literally  and  strictly  than  those  who  seek  to  make  the  religion 
of  Jesus  correspond  with  the  fashion  of  the  time,  or  the  decent 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  45 

course  of  the  world.  .  .  .  Though  they  hold  the  doctrine  of  par- 
ticular election,  of  God's  unchanging  and  everlasting  love,  and 
of  the  perseverance  of  the  saints :  yet  they  think  it  dangerous 
to  comfort  people  by  these  considerations  when  they  are  in  a 
backsliding  state.  In  this  case  they  think  the  Scripture  motives 
to  fear  are  most  useful,  and  ought  to  have  their  full  force,  even 
the  fear  of  falling  away,  and  coming  short  of  heavenly  rest. 
They  think  it  also  unsafe,  in  such  a  case,  to  draw  comfort  from 
the  reflection  of  our  having  once  believed,  it  being  their  opinion, 
that  we  must  be  reduced  to  the  mere  mercy  of  God  through  the 
atonement  which  gave  us  relief  at  the  first. 

"  Their  Church  order  is  strictly  congregational,  and  so  far  as 
they  can  discern,  upon  the  Apostolic  plan,  which  is  the  only 
rule  they  profess  to  follow.  A  plurality  of  elders  or  pastors  in 
every  church,  is  a  distinguishing  feature  in  their  order  ;  at  the 
same  time  when,  from  a  deficiency  of  gifts,  this  cannot  at  first 
be  attained,  they  first  proceed  with  the  setting  a  church 
in  order  by  the  ordination  of  one,  although  they  consider  a 
church  incomplete  without  a  plurality.  The  nature  of  their 
union  requires  that  they  should  be  strict  and  impartial  in  dis- 
cipline, both  to  preserve  purity,  and  keep  clear  the  channels 
of  brotherly  love,  that  it  may  circulate  freely  through  the 
body. 

"  They  continue  steadfast  every  first  day  of  the  week,  in  the 
Apostle's  doctrine,  that  is,  (1)  in  hearing  the  Scriptures  read 
and  preached ;  (2)  in  fellowship  or  contribution ;  (3)  in 
breaking  of  bread  or  the  Lord's  Supper ;  (4)  and  in  prayers, 
and  singing  of  Psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual  songs.  The 
prayers  and  exhortations  of  the  brethren  are  also  admitted  in 
their  public  meetings.  (5)  They  observe  the  love -feast,  and 
upon  certain  occasions  (6)  the  kiss  of  charity ;  and  also  (7)  the 
washing  of  one  another's  feet,  when  it  is  really  serviceable  as 
an  act  of  hospitality.  They  (8)  abstain  from  eating  blood  and 
things  strangled  ;  that  is,  flesh  with  the  blood  thereof,  because 
these  were  not  only  forbidden  to  Noah  and  his  posterity  when 


46  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  grant  of  animal  food  was  first  made  unto  man,  but  also 
under  the  Gospel  they  are  most  solemnly  prohibited  to  the 
believing  Gentiles,  along  with  fornication  and  things  offered 
to  idols. 

"  They  think  that  a  gaudy  external  appearance  in  either  sex, 
be  their  station  what  it  may,  is  a  sure  indication  of  the  pride 
and  vanity  of  heart.  That  women  professing  godliness  are  not  to 
adorn  themselves  with  plaited  or  broidered  hair,  or  gold,  or 
pearls,  or  costly  array ;  but  with  modest  outward  apparel,  as 
well  as  with  the  inward  ornaments  of  the  mind ;  also,  that 
it  is  a  shame  for  a  man  to  have  long  hair,  however  sanctioned 
by  the  fashion. 

"As  to  marriage,  though  they  do  not  think  either  of  the 
parties  being  an  unbeliever,  dissolves  that  relation,  when  once 
entered  into  ;  yet  they  hold  it  to  be  the  duty  of  Christians 
to  marry  only  in  the  Lord. 

"  They  also  consider  gaming,  attending  plays,  routs,  balls, 
and  some  other  fashionable  diversions,  as  unbecoming  the 
gravity  and  sobriety  of  the  Christian  profession. 

"As  to  their  political  sentiments  they  consider  themselves 
bound  to  be  subject  to  the  powers  that  be  in  all  lawful  matters, 
to  honour  them,  pray  for  them,  and  pay  them  tribute,  and 
rather  to  suffer  patiently  for  a  good  conscience  than  in  any 
case  to  resist  them  by  force.  At  the  same  time  they  are 
friendly  to  the  rational  and  just  liberties  of  mankind,  and 
think  themselves  warranted  to  plead,  in  a  respectful  manner, 
for  any  just  and  legal  rights  and  privileges  which  they  are 
entitled  to,  whether  of  a  civil  or  religious  nature." 

The  New  Connexion  of  General  Baptists. 

Towards  the  middle  of  the  Eighteenth  century  the  General 
Baptists  of  England  had  become  largely  tainted  with  anti- 
Trinitarian  opinions.  The  natural  result  was,  the  decay  and 
extinction  of  many  churches.  Thomas  Grantham  announced, 
in  the  Declaration  presented  to  Charles  the  Second,  that  there 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


47 


were  over  twenty  thousand  persons  in  England  who  then  held 
General  Baptist  opinions.  In  the  days  of  George  the  Second 
that  number  had  greatly  diminished ;  and  since  that  period 
there  has  been  a  gradual  decrease  of  churches  who  claim  any 
historic  connection  with  churches  founded  in  the  time  of  the 
Tudors  and  the  Stuarts. 

The  Xew  Connexion  of  General  Baptists  sprang  into  existence 
in  1770,  and  as  a  protest  against  the  anti- Trinitarian  opinions 
of  the  older  body.  Its  origin  is  partly  due  to  the  labours  of 
certain  earnest  and  godly  men  in  Leicestershire,  and  partly  to 
the  herculean  labours  of  a  convert  from  Wesleyanism  in  York- 
shire, Dan  Taylor,  of  Wadsworth,  near  Hebden-bridge.  The 
centre  of  the  Leicestershire  Society  was  Barton-in-the-Beans,  a 
small  hamlet  two  miles  from  Market  Bosworth,  the  scene  of  the 
defeat  and  death  of  Richard  the  Third,  the  last  of  the  Plantage- 
nets.  The  Barton  Society  had  been  in  existence  some  years 
before  Dan  Taylor  made  its  acquaintance,  and  had  churches 
affiliated  with  it  at  Melbourne,  in  Derbyshire,  at  Key  worth  and 
Loughborough,  Leicestershire,  and  at  Kirkby-Woodhouse,  Not- 
tinghamshire. Abraham  Booth  was  at  this  time  pastor  of  the 
latter  church. 

In  the  year  1764,  a  young  man,  about  five-and-twenty,  rather 
under  the  average  size  of  men,  strongly  built,  and  with  a  frame 
that  exhausting  labour  in  a  coal  mine  had  rather  more  firmly 
knit  than  wasted,  took  an  active  part  in  digging  out  from  a 
quarry  blocks  of  stone  which  were  intended  to  be  used  in  the 
erection  of  a  new  place  of  worship.  He  had  already  drawn  out 
the  plan  itself  of  the  building.  He  now  vigorously  helped  to 
reproduce  the  plan  on  the  steep  side  of  a  romantic  valley.  All 
worked  with  a  will,  inspired  by  the  example  of  the  man  who 
was  at  once  preacher,  architect  of  his  own  chapel,  and  mason. 
The  edifice  was  at  length  complete  ;  when  to  crown  his  other 
labours  and  hasten  on  the  work,  he  carried,  on  his  own  stalwart 
shoulders,  from  the  old  meeting  place  to  the  new  one,  the  pulpit 
in  which  he  was  henceforth  to  labour.     This  was  Dan  Taylor, 


4S  BYE- PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

justly  regarded  as  the  father  and  founder  of  the  New  Connexion 
of  General  Baptists. 

The  place  of  worship  which  Taylor  had  thus  energetically 
assisted  to  build,  was  incumbered  with  a  debt,  which  pressed 
heavily  on  the  handful  of  people  at  Birchcliffe,  as  his  new 
chapel  was  called.  He  therefore  set  off  in  quest  of  funds.  The 
man  who  the  year  before  had  walked  a  hundred  and  twentj' 
miles  in  the  depth  of  winter  in  search  of  Baptists,  and  had  con- 
tentedly slept  one  night  under  a  hay-rick,  was  just  the  man  to 
carry  his  point,  whatever  it  might  be.  He  travelled  into  the 
Midland  Counties  as  far  as  Loughborough,  and  here  first  made 
the  personal  acquaintance  of  the  people  with  whom  for  many 
years  afterwards  his  own  life  and  labours  were  closely  entwined. 

The  following  year  Dan  Taylor  attended  the  General  Assembly 
of  the  old  General  Baptist  churches  in  London,  as  the  represen- 
tative of  the  Lincolnshire  branch  of  their  churches.  During  the 
next  four  years  the  divergence  in  doctrine  between  himself  and 
this  older  body  became  more  and  more  distasteful,  and  he  and  the 
Lincolnshire  churches  withdrew  from  them,  and  made  overtures 
to  the  five  Midland  churches  to  join  together  in  forming  a  new 
religious  organization.  The  overtures  were  cordially  received, 
and  a  preliminary  meeting  was  held  at  Lincoln  in  1769.  Early 
in  the  following  year,  the  first  annual  meeting  met  in  London, 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Assembly  of  Free  Grace  General 
Baptists/'  Of  the  nineteen  ministers  who  were  present  at  that 
meeting,  eight  belonged  to  the  churches  which  Dan  Taylor  had 
found  in  the  Midland  Counties  six  years  before,  and  ten  were 
ministers  of  churches  connected  with  the  older  denomination. 
Dan  Taylor,  though  reckoned  as  one  of  this  older  religious  body, 
had  only  become  associated  with  them  through  his  acquaintance 
and  official  relation  with  the  Lincolnshire  branch  of  their 
churches. 

Henceforth  the  two  currents  of  religious  activity  intermingled: 
but  while  that  current  was  broader  which  flowed  out  from  the 
Leicestershire   spring,  the   current  was  more  rapid   and   cner- 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  49 

getic — a  kind  of  moral  and  religions  eagre — which  arose  in  the 
northern  county.  In  other  words,  Dan  Taylor  now  became  the 
ruling  spirit  of  the  whole  community.  He  was  their  great 
organiser,  their  controversialist,  their  oracle.  Taylor  made  the 
first  attempts  to  give  the  General  Baptists  of  the  New  Con- 
nexion a  literature  of  their  own,  an  attempt  which  was  very 
little  appreciated,  partly  owing  to  the  foolish  prejudice  against 
all  literature  among  the  members,  who  comprised  the  early 
churches  of  the  denomination.  He  presided  for  fifteen  years 
over  their  Institution  for  the  Education  of  Ministers.  Several 
of  his  sons-in-law  took  prominent  places  in  the  New  Connexion, 
and  one  of  them  afterwards  followed  his  steps  as  editor  of  the 
magazine  of  the  denomination,  and  tutor  of  the  college.  He 
assisted  at  no  less  than  thirty-eight  ordinations,  was  chairman 
of  their  annual  meetings  for  nearly  half  a  century,  and  was  one 
of  their  most  frequent  and  popular  preachers,  and  the  writer 
of  many  of  its  Circular  Letters.  No  man  did  more  to  extend 
the  denomination  he  so  dearly  loved  ;  and  the  work  which  he 
did  at  Birchliffe  in  1764,  was  the  work  which,  in  a  different 
fashion,  and  on  a  larger  scale,  he  did  afterwards  for  the  whole 
Connexion.  The  life  of  Dan  Taylor  is  the  history  of  the  New 
Connexion  of  General  Baptists  for  more  than  half  a  century. 
He  died  in  London,  December  1816,  aged  78,  and  was  buried 
in  Bunhill  Fields. 

Nothing  is  more  surprising  than  the  amount  of  work  Dan 
Taylor  was  able  to  accomplish,  and  unless  he  had  been  a  rigid 
economist  of  time,  notwithstanding  his  natural  robustness,  he 
could  not  have  got  through  half  his  work.  Moreover,  there 
was  never  any  period  of  his  life,  when  his  time  was  fairly  his 
own  ;  now  it  was  largely  engrossed  by  a  school,  now  by  a  farm, 
now  by  a  shop,  and  now  by  the  training  of  young  ministers. 
Three  or  four  times  a  year  he  made  special  preaching  journeys, 
and  before  his  removal  from  Halifax  to  London  he  had  travelled 
twenty-five  thousand  miles  in  preaching  the  Gospel.  He  rarely 
preached,  on  these  special  journeys,  less  than  nine  times  in 

E 


50  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  week.  His  love  for  the  Scriptures  was  a  distinguishing 
trait  in  his  character.  Fearing  that  his  sight  was  altogether 
failing,  he  determined  to  commit  the  whole  of  the  Bible  to 
memory ;  and  had  actually  accomplished  part  of  his  design, 
when  his  recovery  dissipated  his  apprehensions." 

There  are  six  articles  of  faith  which  were  propounded  by 
Dan  Taylor,  as  the  basis  of  union  in  1770,  and  which  will  be 
found  in  a  later  part  of  this  volume.  We  prefer  to  insert  here 
the  exposition  of  their  opinions  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Underwood, 
of  Chilwell  College,  Nottinghamshire.  It  is  given  in  a  paper 
read  before  the  first  autumnal  session  of  the  Baptist  Union  at 
Birmingham,  Oct.  1864.     Dr.  Underwood  says: — 

"Although  I  have  no  commission  from  any  of  my  asso- 
ciated brethren  to  confess  what  they  believe,  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  present  a  summary  of  the  sentiments  which 
I  think  to  be  those  of  the  denomination  generally.  •  To 
us  there  is  one  God,  of  whom  are  all  things,  and  we  for 
Him.'  But  we  hold  that  in  this  one  God  there  are  three  sub- 
sistents,  '  called  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Spirit,'  who  have  proper 
Deity  in  themselves,  and  full  communion  with  one  another. 
Whether  each  of  these  subsistents  should  be  called  a  person, 
and  the  whole  three  a  Trinity,  has  been  questioned  by  some  ; 
but  as  the  Father  is  said  to  be  *  a  person,'  and  as  the  Son  is 
said  to  be  '  the  express  image  of  His  person,  '  and  as  the  Spirit 
is  neither  Father  nor  Son,  many  of  us  feel  no  scruple  in 
speaking  of  the  Trinity,  and  in  saying  that  there  are  three 
persons  in  one  God. 

"We  maintain  the  proper  Divinity  and  perfect  humanity  of 
Christ,  teaching  that  Christ  is  God,  that  Christ  was  man,  and 
that  He  was  God  and  man  in  one  person,  '  plain  to  be  dis- 
tinguished, impossible  to  be  divided.'  We  maintain  the  per- 
sonality and  deity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  that  it  is  His  office 
to  enlighten,  convict,  and  renew  the  sinner,  and  to  sanctify, 
confirm,  and  comfort  the  saint. 

"  Concerning  man,  we  believe  that  he  was  formed   in   the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  51 

moral  image  of  his  Maker,  but  that  he  lost  his  original  by  one 
act  of  disobedience  ;  that  from  that  act,  which  constituted  the 
•  fall '  of  man,  the  whole  race  inherit  an  evil  nature — are  prone 
to  sinful  deeds — and  do,  on  attaining  the  age  of  accountability, 
wilfully  rebel  against  God.  But  while  we  believe  that  the 
moral  stain  contracted  by  the  first  transgression  has  been 
transmitted  to  all  their  posterity,  we  do  not  believe  that 
the  guilt  of  their  offence  is  imputed  to  any  of  their  des- 
cendants. .  .  . 

"We  believe  that  the  death  of  Christ  was  voluntary  and 
vicarious,  and  that  in  connection  therewith  His  obedience 
and  sufferings  constitute  the  real  atonement,  satisfying  the 
Divine  law,  reconciling  the  offended  God  to  man,  and  the 
offended  man  to  God ;  that  the  whole  world,  being  guilty 
before  God,  is  under  condemnation  to  eternal  death,  yet  that  all 
penitents  who  trust  in  Christ  have  redemption  through  His  blood, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins. 

"  But  the  distinguishing  tenet  from  which  we  take  our  name, 
General,  which  was  prefixed  to  our  ancient  deeds,  covenants, 
which  we  have  inserted  in  many  of  our  title-deeds,  and  which 
we  would  gladly  proclaim  on  the  housetops,  is —  the  love  of  God 
in  Christ  to  all  mankind. 

"  On  the  liberty  of  man  to  choose  the  life  or  the  death,  the 
blessing  or  the  curse,  set  before  him,  we  have  so  strongly 
spoken  as  to  provoke  opponents  to  call  us  '  Free-willers.  But .  .  . 
the  first  meeting  which  was  held  by  the  founders  of  the  denomi- 
nation called  itself  an  Assembly  of  Free  Grace  General 
Baptists  ; '  and  that  this  was  a  proper  appellation  may  be  seen 
from  what  all  our  predecessors  have  said  in  their  Confes- 
sions. .  . . 

"Our  ecclesiastical  polity  is  in  close  agreement  with  other 
Congregationalists.  ...  In  former  days  pastors  and  deacons 
were  set  apart  to  their  duties  by  counsel  and  prayer  with 
the  imposition  of  hands ;  but  now  the  choice  of  deacons  is 
sometimes  not  a  very  spirited   proceeding,  and  the  ordination 

e2 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY 


solemnity,  in  the  case  of  pastors,  is  supplanted  too  often  by  a 
semi-social  hybrid  called  '  the  recognition  tea-meeting.' 

"  In  the  matter  of  communion,  our  practice  is  far  from  being 
uniform.  Until  within  a  very  few  years  nearly  all  our  churches 
were  close  and  strict;  but  now  some  are  so  open  as  to  allow 
any  person  professing  godliness  to  sit  with  them  at  the  Lord's 
table.  Several  other  churches  invite  those  to  participate  who 
are  known  to  be  in  actual  membership  with  Pasdobaptist  com- 
munities ;  while  the  rest,  and  probably  the  majority,  hold  to 
the  early  custom  of  confining  the  privilege  to  those  who  had 
1  been  buried  with  Christ  in  baptism.' 

"  Since  the  founding  of  the   Connexion  each  church  now 

belonging  to  it  has  been  admitted  on  its  own  application  ;  but 

before  the  vote  for  admission  is  taken  in  the  Annual  Association, 

such  application  is  accompanied  by  the  recommendation  of  the 

district  conference.  The  Association  is  an  assembly  of  ministers 

who  are  members  ex  officio,  and  of  representatives  who  are  sent 

by  the  churches  in  a  certain  ratio.     This  assembly  rotates,  and 

is  never  held  in  one  place  oftener  than  once  in  seven  years. 

The  affiliated  churches  are  expected  to  contribute  to  the  support 

of  the  institutions  of  the   Body,  such  as  the  Home  and  the 

Orissa  Missions,  and  the  College.     If  any  church  declines  to 

render  this  support  to  any  one  of  these  institutions,  the  power 

of  speaking  or  voting  on  questions  relating  thereto  is  forfeited. 

The  Association  acknowledges  the  perfect  independence  of  the 

churches,   and  scrupulously  avoids  all    synodic    action   which 

could  infringe  their  freedom.     But  if  any  church   should  deny 

the  right  of  the  ministers  and  representatives  to  interfere  with 

it  in  the  event   of  its    departure  from  the  Christian  faith  and 

morality,  such  a  church  would  be  marked  and  admonished  ;  and 

if  it  continued    contumacious,  it   would  be  cut  off.     In  like 

manner,   any  minister  convicted   of  flagrant  heresy,   or  gross 

moral  pravity,  even  if  his  people  should  adhere  to  him,  would 

be  openly  disowned,  and  his  name  would  be  removed  from  the 

yearly  ministerial  list." 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  BAPTISTS  AND  LIBERTY  OF  CONSCIENCE. 

THE  Baptists  occupy  an  honourable  position  in  the  history 
of  religious  freedom.  They  were  the  first  to  assert,  in 
this  country,  the  right  of  every  man  to  worship  God  as  his- 
conscience  dictated,  and  the  first  to  show  that  that  right  was 
based  both  on  reason  and  Scripture.  When  England  was  still 
suffering  from  the  vexations  and  miseries  of  persecution  for 
religious  opinions,  Baptists  lifted  up  their  earnest,  but  at  that 
time  unheeded,  protests  against  its  injustice  and  tyranny. 
Some  of  these  protests  were  issued  at  great  peril  to  the  writers, 
and  others  were  the  plaints  of  men  who,  for  their  Baptist 
opinions,  were  condemned  to  fester  in  loathsome  prisons.  All 
bear  witness  to  an  unconquerable  love  of  freedom,  which  at 
length  bore  its  priceless  fruits.  It  would,  therefore,  be  un- 
grateful in  their  descendants,  who  are  now  sitting  under  the 
shadow  of  the  tree  which  these  courageous  pioneers  watered 
with  their  blood,  not  to  hold  their  names  in  everlasting  remem- 
brance. 

Leonard  Busher,  the  writer  of  the  earliest  extant  treatise  in 
favour  of  the  broadest  religious  liberty,  was  a  Baptist.  There 
can  be  no  question  as  to  the  truth  of  this  statement,  since  it 
rests  on  his  own  emphatic  words.  "  Christ,"  says  Busher,  in 
the  treatise  to  which  we  refer,  "  will  have  His  ministers  to 
preach    and  to  teach   the   people  of  all  nations  .  .  .  and   to 


54  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

baptize  in  His  name  all  who  believe."  Still  more  explicitly  he 
says  in  another  place  :  "  Such  as  willingly  receive  the  truth, 
Christ  hath  commanded  to  be  baptized  in  water ;  that  is,  dipped 
for  the  dead  in  water." 

Of  Busher's  personal  history  very  little  is  known.  He  was 
a  citizen  of  London  in  the  later  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and 
fled  to  the  Continent  on  account  of  his  religious  opinions.  In 
the  time  of  her  successor,  James  the  First,  he  returned  to 
London;  but  "found  it  hard  to  get  his  daily  bread,  with  his 
wTeak  body  and  feeble  hands."  Probably,  as  his  name  suggests, 
of  Walloon  extraction  ;  a  man  of  some  learning ;  a  contro- 
versialist, entering  the  lists  with  Robinson  of  Amsterdam,  and 
the  Brownists  ;  too  poor  to  print  the  books  he  had  written,  and 
yet  somehow  getting  printed  the  one  which  places  his  name 
in  the  foremost  ranks  of  advocates  for  religious  liberty — such 
is  absolutely  all  the  record  we  have  of  the  brave  and  gentle 
Leonard  Busher. 

His  treatise  was  presented  to  the  King  and  Parliament  in 
1614 ;  but  so  far  as  both  were  concerned,  very  little  came  of 
its  presentation.  A  valiant  Independent,  in  the  days  of  the 
Civil  War,  Henry  Burton  by  name,  a  man  who  had  suffered 
under  the  tyranny  of  Laud,  and  was  among  the  earliest  of  his 
own  religious  party  to  claim  and  allow  full  liberty  of  conscience, 
reprinted  the  treatise  in  1646,  with  an  address  prefixed  to  it 
for  the  special  benefit  of  the  Presbyterians.  At  that  time  the 
Presbyterians  were  in  the  ascendant,  and  were  eagerly  using 
their  power  to  repress  all  who  differed  from  them.  The  title 
of  Busher's  treatise  is, 

"  Religious  Peace ;  or,  A  Plea  for  Liberty  of  Conscience." 

After  a  short  preface  "  to  the  King,  and  to  the  princely  and 
right  honourable  Parliament,"  for  whom  he  wishes  "the  wis- 
dom of  Solomon,  the  zeal  of  Josias,  and  the  mercy  of  Christ, 
with  the  salvation  of  their  spirits  in  the  day  of  the  Lord  Jesus," 
Busher    assigns   seventeen  reasons   against    persecution,    and 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST    HISTORY.  55 

concludes  with  "  a  design  for  a  peaceable  reconciliation  of  those 
that  differ  in  opinion." 

Busher's  main  object  by  this  petition  was  to  secure  a  repeal 
of  the  odious  and  oppressive,  or  as  he  calls  them,  "  the  anti- 
Christian,  Romish,  and  cruel  laws,"  then  in  force  against  all 
Nonconformists.  Every  kind  of  argument  is  used  to  influence 
the  minds  of  the  King  and  his  Parliament.  We  shall,  perhaps, 
best  illustrate  the  contents  of  this  remarkable  plea  for  liberty  of 
conscience  by  grouping  together  some  of  its  main  features, 
rather  than  by  pretending  to  give  any  complete  analysis  of  the 
whole  book. 

Busher  quotes  widely  opposite  examples  of  toleration. 
There  is  the  example  of  the  Emperor  Constantine  :  "  I  read 
that  he  wrote  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  that  he  would  not  force 
and  constrain  any  man  to  the  faith,  but  only  admonish,  and 
commit  judgment  to  God."  There  is  that  of  a  Turkish 
emperor.  "  A  Bishop  of  Rome  would  have  constrained  him 
to  the  Christian  faith,  but  the  Emperor  answered,  '  I  believe 
that  Christ  was  an  excellent  prophet ;  but  He  did  never,  as  far 
as  I  understand,  command  that  men  should,  with  the  power  of 
weapons,  be  constrained  to  believe  His  law  ;  and  verily  I  also 
do  force  no  man  to  believe  Mahomet's  law."  Busher  adds  to 
this  the  statement :  "  Also  I  read  the  Jews,  Christians,  and 
Turks  are  tolerated  in  Constantinople,  and  yet  are  peaceable, 
yet  so  contrary  the  one  to  the  other.  If  this  be  so,  how  much 
more  ought  Christians  not  to  force  one  another  to  religion  ? 
And  how  much  more  ought  Christians  to  tolerate  Christians, 
whereas  the  Turks  do  tolerate  them  ?  Shall  ice  be  less  merciful 
than  the  Turks  ?  Or  shall  we  learn  (teach)  the  Turks  to  perse- 
cute Christians  ?  It  is  not  only  unmerciful,  but  unnatural  and 
abominable,  yea,  monstrous,  for  one  Christian  to  vex  and  destroy 
another  for  difference  and  question  of  religion."  Even  "  Pagans," 
Busher  also  says,  "  will  not  persecute  one  another  for  religion ; 
though,  as  I  read,  there  be  above  three  thousand  sorts  of  them." 
He  follows  up  the  allusion  to  pagan  toleration  with  a  home- 


56  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

thrust  at  the  King  about  the  mistakes  made  in  England,  "both 
by  King  Henry  and  Queen  Mary,  who  thought  themselves 
defenders  of  the  faith,  and  thought  they  burned  heretics  and 
heresy,  when  they  burned  men  and  their  books.  But  now  you 
see,  and  must  acknowledge,  that  they  were  persecutors  of  the 
faith,  instead  of  defenders  thereof." 

The  uselessness  of  persecution  is  pointed  out  in  various 
ways.  "  Neither  the  King  nor  the  bishops  can  command  faith, 
any  more  than  they  can  command  the  winds."  If  you  "  force 
men  to  go  to  church  against  their  consciences,  they  will  believe 
as  they  did  before  when  they  come.  ...  It  is  not  the  gallows, 
nor  the  prisons,  nor  burning,  nor  banishing,  that  can  defend 
the  Apostolic  faith  ....  The  Dutch  princes  and  peers  say : 
'  that  force,  sword,  and  gallows,  in  matter  of  religion,  is  a  good 
means  to  spill  blood,  and  to  make  an  uproar  in  the  land  ;  but 
not  to  bring  any  man  from  one  faith  to  another.'  "  Even  kings 
enjoy  no  exemption  from  other  people  :  "  They  are  men  as 
well  as  kings,  and  Christ  hath  ordained  the  same  means  of 
faith  for  kings  as  for  subjects." 

Persecution  is  fraught  with  mischief  to  the  State.  "If  per- 
secution continues,  then  the  King  and  the  State  shall  have 
against  their  will,  many  dissemblers  in  authority  and  office, 
both  in  court,  city,  and  country.  .  .  .  Most  men  will  conform 
themselves  for  fear  of  persecution,  although  in  their  hearts 
they  hate  and  detest  the  religion  whereto  they  are  forced  by 
law ;  the  which  is  verj*  dangerous  and  hurtful,  both  to  the 
King  and  to  the  State,  in  time  of  temptation  from  beyond  the 
seas,  and  in  rebellion  at  home.  For  they  that  are  not  faithful 
to  God  in  their  religion,  will  never  be  faithful  to  the  King  and  the 
State  in  their  allegiance:  especially  being  tried  by  a  great 
reward,  or  by  a  mighty  rebel." 

Persecution  is  "  a  notable  mark  of  the  false  Church,  and  her 
bishops  and  ministers."  "All  bishops  that  force  princes  and 
people  to  receive  their  faith  and  discipline,  do,  with  Judas,  go 
against  Christ   and   His  members,  with   swords,   staves,    and 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  57 

halberds."  "  Christ  saith,  '  He  that  will  not  hear  the  Church, 
let  him  be  to  thee  as  a  heathen  man,  and  a  publican.'  He 
saith  not,  'Burn,  banish,  or  imprison  him:'  that  is  Antichrist's 
ordinance."  "  With  Scripture,  and  not  with  fire  and  sword, 
your  Majest3''s  bishops  and  ministers  ought  to  be  armed  and 
weaponed."  "  Those  bishops  which  persuade  the  King  and 
Parliament  to  burn,  banish,  and  imprison  for  difference  of 
religion,  are  bloodsuckers  and  manslayers."  "  The  ministers 
and  bishops  of  Antichrist  cannot  abide  nor  endure  the  faith  and 
discipline  of  the  Apostolic  Church,  because  it  will  be  the  over- 
throw of  their  blasphemous  and  spiritual  lordships,  and  of  their 
an ti- Christian  and  bloody  kingdom  ;  and  therefore  are  they  so 
fiery  hot  and  zealous  for  the  Catholic  or  anti- Christian  faith 
and  practice." 

Busher  is  very  careful  to  show,  by  innumerable  passages, 
that  all  Christ's  teaching  and  example  are  directly  against  per- 
secution. "  Christ  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  and 
not  to  destroy  them,  though  they  be  blasphemers  ;  seeing  the 
Lord  may  convert  them,  as  He  did  Saul."  "  Christ  saith, 
'  Teach  all  nations  ;'  not, '  Force  all  nations.'  "  "  Faith  cometh 
by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  God,  and  not  by  the 
King's  sword."  "  Christ  overcame  the  devil  and  his  ministers 
by  the  Word  of  God,  and  by  a  good,  meek,  and  gentle  life." 
"  And  it  is  to  be  well  observed,  that  when  Christ  would  have 
preached  the  word  of  salvation  to  the  Gadarenes,  He  did  not 
compel  them  when  they  refused  ;  but  finding  them  unwilling 
to  receive  Him  and  His  Word,  he  turned  from  them  without 
hurting  them.  Also  when  James  and  John  saw  that  some  of 
the  Samaritans  refused  Christ,  they  wanted  to  have  commanded 
fire  from  heaven  to  consume  them,  as  Elias  did;  but  Christ 
rebuked  them  and  said,  '  Ye  know  not  of  what  spirit  ye  are ; 
for  the  Son  of  Man  is  not  come  to  destroy  men's  lives,  but  to 
save  them.'  "  "  Christ  sent  His  ministers  as  lambs  among 
wolves,  and  not  as  wolves  among  lambs."  These  are  a  few 
only  of  the  many  passages  that  might  be  quoted. 


58  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


By  giving  up  persecution,  Busher  assures  the  King  that  he 
will  "  prevent  his  land  from  a  great  impoverishing  and  weaken- 
ing by  the  loss  of  the  faithfullest  subjects  and  friends,  who,  not 
having  here  freedom  of  conscience  to  follow  the  Apostolic  faith, 
must  depart  the  land  for  some  free  country."  Still  further, 
"  the  Jews,  to  the  great  profit  of  his  realm,  shall  then  inhabit 
and  dwell  under  his  Majesty's  dominions."  The  King  may  even 
go  further  yet,  and  grant,  without  damage  to  the  State,  "  liberty 
for  every  person,  j^ea,  Jews  and  Papists,  to  write,  dispute,  con- 
fer, and  reason,  print  and  publish  any  matter  touching  religion, 
either  for  or  against  whomsoever  ;  always  provided" — and  the 
proviso  reads  strangely  in  our  days — ' '  they  alledge  no  Fathers 
for  proof  of  any  point  of  religion,  but  only  the  Holy  Scriptures." 

Many  good  things  are  suggested  as  likely  to  follow  this 
repeal  of  Popish  laws  and  canons.  One  of  these  is  stated  in 
a  manner  which  reveals  the  quiet  humour  of  this  grave  and 
valiant  man.  It  is  this — the  possible  action  of  such  repeal  on 
the  bishops.  Busher  could  see  little  difference  between  the 
manners  of  bishops,  whether  Popish  or  Protestant.  "  Pope,  in 
Latin  (Italian)  is  papa,  and  papa  signifies  father  in  English. 
All  the  bishops  in  our  land  are  called  'Reverend  Fathers;' 
therefore  all  the  bishops  in  our  land  are  called  '  Reverend 
Popes.'  So  many  '  Lord  Bishops,'  so  many  '  Reverend  Fathers,' 
so  many '  Reverend  Popes.'  "  But  such  would  be  the  influence 
upon  the  bishops'  minds  of  this  toleration,  that  after  a  time, 
suggests  Busher,  "  All  those  bishops  who  unfeignedly  fear  God, 
and  truly  love  the  King,  will  haste  and  make  speed  to  come  to  his 
Majesty  for  pardon;  acknowledging  the  truth  of  this  hook;  con- 
fessing their  ignorance  and  arrogance  in  God's  Word  ;  and  in 
compelling  the  people  to  hear  the  Word  preached,  and  for 
imprisoning,  burning,  banishing,  and  hanging  for  religion,  con- 
trary to  the  mind  of  Christ ;  and  also  for  stopping  the  mouths 
of  men,  and  burning  their  books,  that  preach  and  write  contrary 
to  their  minds  and  wills."  Busher  further  adds,  anticipating 
the  very  words  of  their  penitence  :   "  Yea,  it  may  be,  they  will 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  59 

also  confess  and  say,  '  Oh,  most  gracious  King  !  we  beseech 
yoor  Majesty  to  show  us  mercy,  and  to  forgive  us  our  spiritual 
pride  and  ambition,  in  that  we  have  thus  long  usurped  the 
blasphemous  titles  of  *  Spiritual  Lords,'  and  'Lord  Graces;' 
the  which  titles  we  now,  to  the  glory  of  God  and  honour  of  the 
King,  do,  with  unfeigned  hearts,  confess  to  be  due  and  belong 
only  to  Christ  Himself.  And  that  the  name  and  title  of 
1  Spiritual  Lord '  cannot  belong  to  any  earthly  creature ;  no, 
not  to  the  King  or  Emperor,  because  it  is  an  heavenly  name 
and  title.  How  much  less  can  it  belong,  or  be  due  to  us,  your 
Majesty's  unworthy  subjects  and  scholars?  .  .  .  Also  we  do 
confess  that  our  pomp  and  state  wherein  we  now  live,  is  more 
like  the  bishops  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  Antichrist  than  any 
way  like  the  bishops  of  the  Apostolic  Church  of  Christ,  unto 
whom  we  acknowledge  we  ought  to  be  made  like,  and  also  to 
be  qualified  with  the  like  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Spirit ;  or  else 
in  no  case  can  we  be  meet  bishops  for  the  Church  of  Christ,  as 
the  Apostle  plainly  teacheth  both  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  &c.  And 
we  must  further  acknowledge  and  confess  that  our  houses, 
households,  and  revenues  are  more  fit  and  meet  for  princes, 
dukes,  and  earls,  than  for  disciples  of  Christ.  Wherefore, 
being  moved  and  stirred  up  hereto  by  the  fear  of  God,  ice 
earnestly  beseech  your  Majesty  and  Parliament  also  to  disburden 
us  of  this  great  pomp  and  state,  and  of  our  great  and  prince-like 
houses,  households,  and  revenues,  that  so  we  may  be  made  equal 
and  conformable  to  the  ministers  of  Christ ;  and  then  we  shall 
have  both  hope  and  comfort  of  the  world  to  come,  although  but 
little  in  this,  except  your  Majesty  and  Parliament  do  grant  free 
liberty  of  conscience.'1  " 

Five  reasons  are  then  supposed  to  be  assigned  by  the  peni- 
tent bishops  for  conceding  this  freedom,  the  last  being  "  the 
great  gain  to  the  King  and  the  country  from  the  relinquishment 
of  their  own  (the  bishops')  revenues, '  more  profit  and  commodity 
than  we  or  any  man  is  able  to  express."  The  sarcasm  reaches 
its  drollest  point  when  the  bishops  are  said  "  to  desire  all  his 


i 


6o  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

Majesty's  subjects,  both  great  and  small,  in  all  love  and  fear  of 
God,  not  to  be  offended,  or  in  any  way  moved  or  grieved,  when  they 
shall  see  such  a  reformation  in  us  as  that  famous  king,  Henry 
the  Eighth,  did  make  of  our  lordly  brethren,  the  abbots  and 
their  clergy.  For  indeed  such  a  reformation  ought  to  come  among 
us  clergy."  Busher  expresses  a  hope  that  all  this  surrender  of 
their  wealth  may  come  about  ''without  compulsion  and  con- 
straint," But  if  this  should  not  be,  "  that  God  would  open  the 
King's  heart  "  to  compel  the  bishops  to  disgorge  their  enormous 
wealth.  A  third  coivrse,  however,  suggests  itself  to  Busher's 
mind:  "If  free  liberty  of  conscience  be  granted,  the  spiritual 
kingdom  of  these  idol-bishops  will,  in  time,  fall  to  the  ground 
of  itself,  as  the  idol  Dagon  fell  before  the  ark."  Events  have 
abundantly  justified  Busher's  prediction.  The  spiritual  power 
of  the  English  bishops  in  our  day  is  absolutely  nil.  Even  their 
own  party  sneeringly  describe  them  as  "  mitred  old  gentlemen." 
"We  cannot  close  our  sketch  of  this  treatise  without  pointing 
out  the  incidental  confirmation  which  one  passage  in  it  supplies 
to  a  hundred  other  testimonies  of  the  profligacy  and  debauchery 
of  the  times,  the  poison  of  the  Court  of  James  the  First  de- 
scending into  and  defiling  every  grade  of  society.  "If,"  says 
Busher,  when  thinking  of  the  dark  condition  of  England  at 
that  time,  "  If  the  holy  laws  of  God's  "Word  be  practised  and 
executed  after  Christ's  will,  then  shall  neither  king,  prince,  nor 
people  be  destroyed  for  difference  of  religion.  Then  treason 
and  rebellion,  as  well  as  burning,  banishing,  hanging,  or  impri- 
sonment for  difierence  of  religion,  will  cease,  and  be  laid  down. 
Then  shall  not  men,  women,  and  youth  be  hanged  for  theft. 
Then  shall  not  the  poor,  lame,  sick,  and  weak  ones  be  stocked 
(put  in  the  stocks)  and  whipped  ;  neither  shall  the  poor,  stranger, 
fatherless,  and  widows  be  driven  to  beg  from  place  to  place  ; 
neither  shall  the  lame,  sick,  and  weak  persons  suffer  such 
misery,  and  be  forsaken  of  their  kindred,  as  now  they  be. 
Then  shall  not  murder,  whoredom,  and  adultery  be  bought  out 
for  money.     Then  shall  not  the  great  defraud  and  wrong   the 


BYE -PAT  IIS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  61 

small ;  neither  the  rich  oppress  the  poor  by  usury  and  little 
wages.  .  .  .  Then  shall  not  servants  be  forced  from  marriage 
bonds,  nor  yet  be  bound  to  servitude  longer  than  six  years ; 
neither  shall  they  be  brought  up  contrary  to  covenant,  nor 
posted  from  one  quarter  or  one  year  to  another,  for  their  free- 
dom, and  in  the  end  be  forced  to  buy  it  of  their  masters,  or 
else  to  go  without  it  too." 

It  has  been  conjectured  that  Leonard  Busher  was  a  member 
of  Mr.  Helwys's  church ;  but  on  what  grounds  does  not 
appear.  It  is,  however,  worthy  of  notice,  that  the  year  after 
Busher  issued  his  Plea  for  Liberty  of  Conscience,  some  members 
of  this  church  published  another  pamphlet,  "  proving,"  as  the 
title-page  declares,  "  by  the  law  of  God  and  of  the  land,  and 
by  King  James's  own  testimonies,  that  no  man  ought  to  be 
persecuted  for  his  religion,  so  he  testify  his  allegiance  by  the 
oath  appointed  by  law."     The  title  of  the  pamphlet  is, 

"  Persecution  for  Religion,  judged  and  condemned." 
The  resemblance  between  the  style  of  this  book,  and  one 
written  by  John  Morton,  a  member  of  Mr.  Helwys's  church, 
has  led  to  the  conclusion  that  Morton  himself  was  the  author, 
although,  at  the  end  of  the  ''Epistle,"  or  preface,  the  sub- 
scription runs  as  follows:  "By  Christ's  unworthy  witnesses, 
His  majesty's  faithful  subjects,  commonly  (but  most  falsely) 
called,  Anabaptists." 

The  book  is  written  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue  between  Anti- 
Christian  and  Christian.  "  Why  come  you  not  to  church  ?  "  is 
the  question  started  by  Anti-Christian ;  and  this  leads  to  a  dis- 
cussion on  the  nature  of  worship,  and  so  to  the  question  of 
persecution.  Anti- Christian  thinks  he  has  his  opponent  on  the 
hip,  when  he  says,  "It  is  manifest  in  the  Scriptures,  by  the 
example  of  the  Apostle  Peter  smiting  Ananias  and  Sapphira  to 
death,  and  of  the  Apostle  Paul  striking  Elymas,  the  sorcerer, 
blind,  and  also  by  delivering  Hymeneus  and  Alexander  unto 
Satan  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  punishment  upon  the 


62  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

body  may  be  used,  and  the  flesh  destroyed.  For  if  it  were 
lawful  for  them  to  smite  to  death,  and  the  like,  though  by 
extraordinary  means,  then  it  must  be  lawful  for  us  by  ordinary 
means,  since  extraordinary  means  now  fail.  If  you  say  it  be 
not  lawful  for  us,  then  you  must  say  it  was  not  lawful  for 
them  ;  and  that  were  to  accuse  them  of  laying  a  false  founda- 
tion, which  none  fearing  God  will  affirm." 

Christian's  reply  to  this  specious  statement  is  very  adroit 
and  unanswerable  :  "I  dare  not  once  admit  of  such  a  thought, 
as  to  disallow  the  truth  of  that  foundation  which  the  Apostles, 
as  skilful  master-builders,  have  laid ;  but  for  your  argument  of 
Peter's  extraordinaiy  smiting  of  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  he 
neither  laid  hand  upon  them,  no?'  threatened  them  by  word,  only 
declared  what  should  befall  them  from  God ;  and,  therefore, 
serveth  nothing  to  your  purpose.  Also  that  of  Paul  to  Elymas, 
he  laid  no  hands  upon  him,  but  only  declared  the  Lord's  hand 
upon  him,  and  the  judgment  that  should  follow.  If  you  can  so 
pronounce,  and  it  so  come  to  pass  upon  any,  do  it ;  and  then  it 
may  be  you  may  be  accounted  master-builders,  and  layers  of  a 
new  foundation,  or  another  Gospel." 

In  the  course  of  the  dialogue  the  writer  denounces  the  pride, 
luxury,  and  oppression  of  the  bishops,  protests  strongly  against 
the  political  errors  of  the  Papists,  and  condemns  those  who, 
through  fear  of  persecution,  comply  with  any  external  worship 
contrary  to  their  conscience.  The  speeches  of  the  King  are 
quoted  to  illustrate  his  professions  of  religious  toleration,  a  thing 
easy  enough  to  do  ;  but  it  would  be  extremely  difficult  to 
point  out  instances  wherein  his  actions  agreed  with  his  profes- 
sions. A  part  of  the  dialogue  is  taken  up  with  the  "  illustration 
of  the  writer's  opinion  that  the  spiritual  power  of  England  is 
the  image  of  the  spiritual  cruel  power  of  Rome,  or  that  beast 
mentioned  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the  Revelations  ;  "  and 
the  concluding  portion  is  especially  intended  to  meet  and 
answer  the  objections  made  by  the  Brownists  and  Robinson 
against  the  creed  and  practice  of  the  General  Baptists. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  63 

A  very  noteworthy  declaration  on  the  subject  of  liberty  of 
conscience  occurs  in  "  the  Epistle  "  which  is  prefixed  to  the 
dialogue,  and  is  addressed  "  to  all  that  truly  wish  Jerusalem's 
prosperity,  and  Babylon's  destruction."  The  words  are  these: 
"  We  do  unfeignedly  acknowledge  the  authority  of  earthl)' 
magistrates,  God's  blessed  ordinance,  and  that  all  earthly 
authority  and  command  appertains  to  them.  Let  them  com- 
mand what  they  will,  we  must  obey,  either  to  do  or  to  suffer, 
upon  pain  of  God's  displeasure,  besides  their  punishment. 
But  all  men  must  let  God  alone  with  His  right,  which  is  to  be 
Lord  and  Lawgiver  to  the  soul,  and  not  command  obedience  to 
God,  where  He  commandeth  none.  And  this  is  only  that 
which  we  dare  not  but  maintain  upon  the  peril  of  our  souls, 
which  is  greater  than  bodily  affliction."  In  the  dialogue  itself 
Christian  afterward  affirms,  "  If  I  take  any  authority  from 
the  King's  majesty,  let  me  be  judged  worthy  of  my  desert ; 
but  if  I  defend  the  authority  of  Christ  Jesus  over  men's  souls, 
which  appertaineth  to  no  mortal  man  whatsoever,  then  you 
know,  that  whosoever  would  rob  Him  of  that  honour  which  is 
not  of  this  world,  He  will  tread  them  under  foot.  Earthly 
authority  belongs  to  earthly  kings ;  but  spiritual  authority 
belongeth  to  that  spiritual  King,  who  is  King  of  kings." 

There  had  been  no  Session  of  Parliament  between  1614  and 
1620  ;  but  driven  by  his  urgent  necessities,  the  King  sum- 
moned both  Houses  in  the  year  last  named.  In  this  year  a 
third  appeal  was  made  by  the  Baptists  for  religious  liberty,  in 

"A  most  Humble  Supplication ;" 

or,  as  the  title  amply  declares — "  A  most  Humble  Supplication 
of  many  of  the  King's  Royal  Subjects,  ready  to  testify  all  Civil 
Obedience,  by  the  Oath  of  Allegiance  or  otherwise,  and  that  of 
Conscience,  who  are  Persecuted  (only  for  differing  in  Religion) 
contrary  to  Divine  and  Human  Testimonies.''''  The  Baptists  had 
good  reason  to  plead  earnestly  for  liberty  of  conscience  at  this 
period.     They  were  not  only  themselves  everywhere  suffering 


64  BYE-PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

front  persecutions,  but  even  the  author  of  these  arguments 
against  persecutions  was,  at  the  time  of  -writing  his  book,  "  a 
close  prisoner  in  Newgate.''  "  Having  not  the  use  of  pen 
and  ink,"  says  Roger  Williams,  "  he  wrote  these  arguments 
in  milk,  in  sheets  of  paper  brought  to  him  by  the  woman,  his 
keeper,  from  a  friend  in  London  as  the  stopples  of  his  milk 
bottle.  In  such  paper,  written  with  milk,  nothing  appeared  ; 
but  the  way  of  reading  it  by  fire  beiDg  known  to  his  friend 
who  received  the  papers,  he  transcribed  and  kept  together  the 
papers,  although  the  author  himself  could  not  correct  nor  view 
what  himself  had  written." 

The  "Most Humble  Supplication,"  is  divided  into  ten  chapters, 
wherein  the  Baptists  again  set  forth  their  opinions  of  the  rule 
of  faith,  the  method  of  ascertaining  its  teaching,  and  the  folly, 
unlawfulness,  and  unscripturalness  of  persecution :  "  (1)  The  rule 
of  faith  is  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  not  in  any  church, 
council,  prince,  or  potentate,  nor  in  any  mortal  man  whatso- 
ever ;  (2)  the  interpreter  of  this  rule  is  the  Scriptures,  and  the 
Spirit  of  God  in  whomsoever ;  (3)  the  Spirit  of  God,  to  under- 
stand and  interpret  the  Scriptures,  is  given  to  all  and  every 
person  that  fear  and  obey  God,  of  what  degree  soever  they  be, 
and  not  to  the  wicked ;  (4)  these  men  are  commonly,  and  the 
most  part  the  simple,  poor,  and  despised,  Sec. ;  (6)  the  learned 
in  human  learning  do  commonly  and  for  the  most  part  err,  and 
know  not  the  truth,  but  persecute  it  and  the  professors  of  it, 
and  therefore  are  no  further  to  be  followed  than  we  see  them 
agree  with  the  truth ;  (6)  persecution  for  cause  of  conscience 
is  against  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  kings ;  (7) 
against  the  profession  and  practice  of  famous  princes  ;  (8)  con- 
demned by  ancient  State  writers,  yea,  by  Puritans  and  Papists ; 
(9)  it  is  no  prejudice  to  the  Commonwealth  if  freedom  of  reli- 
gion were  suffered,  but  would  make  it  flourish ;  (10)  lastly, 
kings  are  not  deprived  of  any  power  given  them  of  God,  when 
they  maintain  freedom  for  cause  of  conscience." 

In  the  seventh  chapter,  the  Baptists  quote  the  testimony  of 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  65 

Stephen,  the  liberal  and  tolerant  King  of  Poland,  who  declared, 
"I  am  king  of  men,  not  of  consciences;  a  commander  of  bodies, 
not  of  souls."  It  was  this  same  distinguished  sovereign  who, 
though  a  convert  to  Catholicism,  strenuously  rejected  the 
counsels  of  the  Jesuits  to  persecute,  and  whose  favourite  saying 
was  this,  "  There  are  three  things  which  God  has  reserved  to 
Himself — creative  power,  the  knowledge  of  future  events,  and 
dominion  over  conscience."  But  the  foremost  place  is  given  in 
this  chapter  to  the  sayings  of  King  James  himself.  The  Bap- 
tists write,  "We  beseech  your  Majesty,  we  may  relate  your 
own  worthy  sayings,  in  your  Majesty's  speech  at  Parliament, 
1609.  Your  Highness  saith,  '  It  is  a  rule  in  divinity,  that  God 
never  loves  to  plant  His  Church  by  violence  and  bloodshed,' 
&e.  And  in  your  Highness 's  apology  for  the  Oath  of  Allegiance, 
speaking  of  such  Papists  as  take  the  oath,  thus,  '  I  gave  a  good 
proof  that  I  intended  no  persecution  against  them  for  con- 
science' cause,  but  only  desired  to  be  secured  (of  them)  for 
civil  obedience,  which,  for  conscience'  cause,  they  were  bound 
to  perform.'  And  speaking  of  Blackwell,  the  archpriest,  your 
Majesty  saith,  ■  It  was  never  my  intention  to  say  anything  to 
the  said  archpriest' s  charge,  as  I  have  never  done  to  any,  for 
cause  or  conscience.'  And  in  your  Highness's  Exposition  of 
Rev.  xx.,  printed  in  1588,  and  after  in  1603,  your  Majesty  truly 
saith,  ■  Sixthly,  the  compassing  of  the  saints,  and  besieging  of 
the  beloved  city,  declareth  unto  us  a  certain  note  of  a  false 
Church  to  be  persecution  ;  for  they  came  to  seek  the  faithful, 
the  faithful  are  those  that  are  sought;  the  wicked  are  the 
besiegers,  the  faithful  are  the  besieged.'  " 

But  King  James  could  talk  liberally  enough  when  it  suited 
his  purpose.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  equally  liberal  in 
his  actions.  It  shows,  therefore,  great  courage  in  these  despised 
and  persecuted  Baptists  daring  to  close  their  "  Humble  Sup- 
plication "  with  these  words  to  the  King  :  "  You  may  make  and 
mend  your  own  laws,  and  be  judge  and  punisher  of  the  trans- 
gressors thereof ;  but  you  cannot  make  and  mend  God's  laws, 

F 


66  DYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

they  are  perfect  already ;  you  may  not  add  nor  diminish,  nor 
be  judge  nor  monarch  of  His  Church  ;  that  is  Christ's  right. 
He  left  neither  you,  nor  any  mortal  man  His  deputy,  but  only 
the  Holy  Ghost,  as  your  Highness  acknowledged.  And  who- 
soever erreth  from  the  truth,  his  judgment  is  set  down,  and  the 
time  thereof.  This,  then,  is  the  sum  of  our  humble  petition, 
that  your  Majesty  would  be  pleased  not  to  persecute  your 
faithful  subjects,  who  are  obedient  unto  you  in  all  civil  worship 
and  service,  for  walking  in  the  practice  of  what  God's  Word 
requireth  of  us  for  His  spiritual  worship,  as  we  have  faith : 
knowing  as  your  Majesty  truly  writeth  in  your  Meditation  on 
Matt,  jwvii.,  in  these  words :  '  We  can  use  no  spiritual  worship 
nor  prayer,  than  can  be  available  to  us  without  faith.'  "  It 
was  no  unskilful  hand  that  thus  feathered  the  last  arrow  with 
the  King's  own  words ;  but,  so  far  as  liberty  of  conscience  was 
concerned,  all  arrows  proved  in  vain,  the  King  in  no  case 
relaxing  the  iron  hand  of  persecution  which  held  the  Baptists, 
and  others,  in  its  relentless  grip. 

Two  or  three  other  Baptist  testimonies  in  favour  of  religious 
freedom  were  published  during  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  and 
the  Restoration.  A  passing  glance  at  one  of  these  will  show  that 
there  is  an  unbroken  chain  of  witnesses  to  be  found  among  the 
Baptists  from  the  days  of  James  the  First,  until  the  eve  of  the 
famous  Act  of  Toleration.  Not  that  Baptists,  during  all  this 
period,  were  alone  in  their  testimony ;  but  they  were  its  earliest 
and  its  most  faithful  and  persistent  advocates.  Jeremy  Taylor's 
Liberty  of  Prophesying  appeared  in  1646,  and  in  the  same  year 
Mr.  Dell  expressed,  in  his  sermon  before  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, a  clear  and  decided  appeal  for  religious  freedom.  Mean- 
while, the  Independents  were  growing  in  their  attachment  to 
the  same  noble  cause  ;  and  more  than  one  public  advocate  of  it 
arose  in  their  midst. 

In  1647,  Mr.  Samuel  Richardson,  who  was  co-pastor  of 
the  first  Calvinistic  Baptist  Church  in  England,  published 
a    book  under   the    title    Fifty    Questions  jiropounded    to    the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  67 


Assembly  of  Divines.     This  was   afterwards  issued   under  the 
title  of 

"  The  Necessity  of  Toleration  in  Matters  of  Religion." 

Like  many  of  the  books  published  in  those  days,  a  whole 
table  of  its  contents  appears  in  the  title-page  of  this  very  rare 
tract.  As  a  curiosity  of  its  kind,  we  transcribe  the  whole  : 
"The  Necessity  of  Toleration  in  all  Matters  of  Ilsligion ;  or, 
certain  questions  propounded  to  the  Synod,  tending  to  prove  that 
Corporeal  Punishment  ought  not  to  be  inflicted  upon  such  as  hold 
Errors  in  Religion,  and  that  in  matters  of  Religion,  men  ought 
not  to  be  compelled,  but  have  liberty  and  freedom.  Here  is  also  a 
copy  of  the  Edict  of  the  Emperors  Constantinus  and  Licinius,  and 
containing  the  Reasons  that  enforced  them  to  grant  unto  all  men 
liberty  to  choose  and  follow  what  Religion  they  thought  best. 
Also,  here  is  the  faith  of  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  as  it  was 
taken  out  of  the  exactest  copy  of  their  practice,  with  the  Non- 
conformists' Answer  ivhy  they  cannot  receive  and  submit  to  the 
said  faith." 

After  offering  five  reasons  in  favour  of  the  proposition, — 
"that  religion  ought  to  be  free," — Mr.  Kichardson  submits  no 
less  than  seventy  questions  to  the  Synod.  The  nature  of  all 
these  questions,  as  the  title-page  indicates,  tends  to  prove 
"  that  corporeal  punishments  ought  not  to  be  inflicted  upon 
such  as  hold  Errors  in  Religion."  We  give  a  few,  as  a  fair 
example  of  the  rest : — 

"5.  Whether  it  be  wisdom  and  safe  to  make  such  sole  judges 
in  matters  of  religion  who  are  not  infallible,  but  as  liable  to  err 
as  others  ? 

"8.  If  the  magistrates  may  determine  what  is  truth;  whether 
we  must  not  believe  and  live  by  the  magistrate's  faith,  and 
change  our  religion  at  their  pleasures  ?  And  if  nothing  must 
be  preached,  nor  printed,  nor  allowed  to  pass,  unless  certain 
men  please  and  approve,  and   give   their   allowance   thereto, 

f2 


68  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

under  their  hands, — whether  such  do  not,  by  this  practice, 
tell  God  that  unless  He  will  reveal  His  truth  first  to  them, 
they  will  not  suffer  it  to  be  published,  and  so  not  to  be 
known  ?  .  .  . 

''21.  Whether  it  be  not  better  for  us  that  a  patent  were 
granted  to  monopolise  all  the  corn  and  cloth,  and  to  have  it 
measured  out  to  us  at  their  price  and  pleasure — which  yet  were 
intolerable — as  for  men  to  appoint  and  measure  out  unto  us, 
what  and  how  much  we  shall  believe  and  practise  in  matters  of 
religion  ? 

11  22.  Whether  there  be  not  the  same  reason  that  they  should 
be  appointed  by  us,  what  they  shall  believe  and  practise  in 
religion,  as  for  them  to  do  so  for  us ;  seeing  that  we  can  give  as 
good  grounds  for  what  we  believe  and  practise,  as  they  can  do 
for  what  they  would  have,  if  not  better  ? 

"  29.  Whether  it  be  not  vain  for  us  to  have  Bibles  in  English, 
if,  contrary  to  our  understanding  of  them,  we  must  believe  as 
the  Church  believes,  whether  it  be  right  or  wrong  ? 

"  36.  Whether  the  Scriptures  appoint  any  other  punishment 
to  be  inflicted  upon  heretics,  than  rejection  and  excommunica- 
tion ? 

"  56.  Whether  it  be  not  a  horrible  thing  that  a  free  division 
of  England  may  not  have  so  much  liberty  as  is  permitted  to  a 
Turk  in  this  kingdom  ;  who  although  he  denies  Christ,  yet  he 
can  live  quietly  amongst  us  here  ?  And  is  it  not  a  great  in- 
gratitude of  this  kingdom  to  deny  this  liberty  to  such  as  are 
friends,  and  have  been  means  in  their  persons  and  estates,  to 
save  this  England  from  destruction  and  desolation  ?  Oh, 
England,  England  !  Oh  that  thou  wert  wise  to  know  the 
things  that  belong  to  thy  prosperity  and  peace,  before  it  be  too 
late  !  The  hand  of  God  is  against  thee.  How  have  we  slain 
one  another;  and  who  knowrs  but  this  is  come  upon  us  for 
troubling,  undoing,  despising,  and  banishing  the  people  of  God 
into  so  many  wildernesses  ? 

"61.  Whether  the  priest's  practice  be  not  contrary  to  the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  69 

Apostle's  practice  ?  Take  one  instance  :  the  Apostles  dipped, 
that  is,  baptized,  persons  after  they  believed  and  confessed 
their  faith;  whereas  these  sprinkle  persons  before  they  believe, 
yea,  before  they  can  speak.  They  (the  Apostles)  baptized 
persons  in  the  river ;  these  (the  priests)  sprinkle  water  upon 
their  faces.  Yet,  if  you  will  believe  them,  they  are  the 
successors  of  Apostles,  and  follow  their  steps." 

Mr.  Richardson,  in  the  next  part  of  his  book,  contends  for 
the  supremacy  of  Christ  in  His  own  Church,  and  for  the  ex- 
communication of  magistrates  themselves,  though  members  of 
churches,  if  they  deserve  it.  "  Sins  of  magistrates,"  saj*s 
Richardson,  "  are  hateful  and  condemned.  It  is  a  paradox, 
that  a  magistrate  may  be  punished  by  the  Church,  and  yet  that 
they  are  judges  of  the  Church."  True  religion  demands  from 
the  magistrate  a  three-fold  duty  :  "  Approbation,  with  a  tender 
respect  to  the  truth  and  the  professors  of  it ;  personal  submis- 
sion of  his  soul  to  the  power  of  Jesus  and  His  government ; 
and  protection  of  them  and  their  estates  from  violence  and 
injury."  Even  to  a  false  religion  he  owes  "  permission  and 
protection  of  person  and  goods."  Richardson  afterwards 
answers  the  objection  that  "  the  kings  of  Judah  compelled  men 
to  serve  the  Lord,  and  kings  may  now  compel,  &c,  showing 
that  only  Jews  were  compelled,  and  not  strangers ;  that  the 
Jews  even  were  not  to  do  anything  but  what  they  knew  and 
confessed  to  be  their  duty  ;  that  if  Jewish  kings  did  compel, 
their  actions  were  not  moral,  and  so  to  be  imitated  ;  that  they 
did  not  imprison  schismatics,  Pharisees,  Herodians,  and  others  ; 
that  they  were  directed  by  infallible  prophets ;  and  that  Christ 
has  nowhere  set  down  that  magistrates  should  compel  all  to 
His  religion.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  reply,  Richardson  asks, 
with  shrewd  humour,  "  Is  there  no  better  cure  of  pain  in  the 
head  than  beating  out  one's  brains  ?  " 

Milton  declared  that  "new  presbyter  was  old  priest  writ 
large  ;  "  and  many  good  men  found  this  out  to  their  cost. 
11  Your    argument   is    authority,"    says     Richardson    to    Mr. 


7o  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


Presbyter;  "what  you  say  must  be  an  oracle  of  all  men  to  be 
deferred  to  without  opposition.  What  is  contrary  to  you  is 
heresy,  ipso  facto,  to  be  punished  with  faggot  and  flaming  fire;" 
"  such  as  cannot  dance  after  your  pipe,  and  rule  in  your  way, 
you  judge  heretics,  and  they  must  appear  before  your  dread- 
ful tribunal,  to  receive  your  reproof,  which  is  sharp  and 
terrible,  and  strikes  at  our  liberties,  estates,  and  lives."  "  You 
want  still  to  use  the  sword."  "  We  had  as  good  be  under  the 
Pope  as  under  your  Presbyterian  check,  .  .  .  since  you  will 
suffer  none  to  live  quietly  and  comfortably  but  those  of  your 
way."  * 

*  Richardson,  in  Ins  Plain  Dealing,  &c,  speaks  a  strong  -word  in  praise  of 
Cromwell's  services  to  his  country  and  his  personal  qualities  as  a  man  and  a 
governor,  calling  special  attention  to  his  tolerant  spirit.  The  words  are  the 
more  valuable  because  they  are  the  testimony  of  one  personally  acquainted 
with  Cromwell,  and  an  eye-witness  of  the  facts  he  relates.  "His  Highness," 
says  Richardson,  speaking  of  the  Lord  Protector,  "aimeth  at  the  general  good 
of  the  nation,  and  the  just  liberty  of  every  man.  He  is  also  a  godly  man,  and 
one  that  feareth  God  and  escheweth  evil ;  though  he  is  not,  nor  no  man  else, 
without  human  frailty.  He  is  faithful  to  the  saints,  and  to  these  nations,  in 
whatsoever  he  hath  undertaken  from  the  beginning  of  the  wars.  He  hath 
owned  the  poor  despised  people  of  God,  and  advanced  many  of  them  to  a 
better  way  and  means  of  living.  He  hath  been  an  advocate  for  the  Christians, 
and  hath  done  them  much  good  in  writing,  speaking,  pleading  for  their  liberty 
in  the  Long  Parliament,  and  fighting  for  their  liberty.  He,  with  others,  bath 
hazarded  his  life,  estate,  family ;  and  since  he  hath  refused  great  offers  of  wealth 
and  worldly  glory  for  the  sake  and  welfare  of  the  people  of  God.  God  hath 
given  him  more  than  ordinary  wisdom,  strength,  courage,  and  valour.  God 
hath  been  always  with  him,  and  gives  him  great  successes.  He  is  fitted  to 
bear  burden,  and  to  endure  all  opposition  and  contradictions  that  may  stand 
with  public  safety.  He  is  a  terror  to  his  enemies ;  he  hath  a  large  heart,  spirit, 
and  principle,  that  will  hold  all  that  fear  the  Lord,  though  of  different  opinions  and 
practices  in  religion,  and  seek  their  welfare.  It  is  the  honour  of  princes  to  pity 
the  miserable,  to  relieve  the  oppressed,  and  the  wrongs  of  the  poor;  he  is 
humble,  and  despiseth  not  any  because  poor ;  and  is  ready  to  hear  and  help 
them.  He  is  a  merciful  man,  full  of  pity  and  bounty  to  the  poor.  A  liberal 
heart  is  more  precious  than  heaven  or  earth.     He  gives  in  money  to  maimed 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  71 

It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  Baptists  have  persistently 
advocated  the  fullest  liberty  of  conscience  from  the  days  of 
James  the  First  to  the  days  of  William  the  Third  ;  but  enough 
has  been  given  to  justify  the  Baptist  claim  to  an  early,  a  clear, 
and  an  emphatic  advocacy  by  their  forefathers  of  religious 
freedom. 

soldiers,  ■widows,  and  orphans,  and  poor  families,  a  thousand  pounds  a  week  to 
supply  their  wants  :  he  is  not  a  lover  of  money,  which  is  a  singular  and  extra- 
ordinary thing.  He  will  give,  and  not  hoard  up  money,  as  some  do.  I  am 
persuaded  there  is  not  a  better  friend  to  these  nations  and  people  of  God 
among  men,  and  that  there  is  not  any  man  so  unjustly  abused  and  censured  as 
he  is.  And  some  that  now  find  fault  with  him,  may  live  to  see  and  confess 
that  what  I  have  herein  written  is  truth ;  and  when  he  is  gathered  to  his 
fathers,  shall  weep  for  the  want  of  him." 


CHAPTER  V. 

PERSECUTION  OF  THE  BAPTISTS  IN  ENGLAND. 


BAPTISTS  enjoy  the  enviable  distinction  of  having  excited 
the  hostility  and  suffered  from  the  oppression  of  every 
dominant  religions  party  in  England,  from  the  days  of  Henry 
the  Eighth  to  the  days  of  the  Revolution  in  1688.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  how  this  has  happened.  The  Baptists 
argued  that  the  Church  of  God  should  be  a  community  of  godly 
men  ;  that  faith  is  the  gift  of  God,  and  not  to  be  compelled  by 
force  of  arms ;  that  only  those  rites  sanctioned  or  commanded 
by  Christ  and  His  Apostles  are  binding  upon  His  people  ;  and 
that  the  only  Lawgiver  of  the  Church  is  Christ  Himself.  Each 
party  had,  therefore,  its  own  reason  for  hating  the  Baptists  ; 
and  as  each  had  yet  to  learn  the  true  nature  of  religious  free- 
dom, each  oppressed  and  persecuted  in  turn.  Believers  in 
national  State  Churches,  in  the  power  of  the  secular  magis- 
trates to  punish  error,  in  the  authority  of  bishops  or  synods  to 
decree  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  in  the  supremacy  of  the 
Sovereign  as  Head  of  the  Church,  all  had  their  own  ground  for 
repugnance  to  the  Baptists.  We  see  this  in  their  persecu- 
tion by 

Henry  the  Eighth  (1509-1547.) 

Bitterly  as  he  hated  the  Papist  party,  after  he  had  broken 
with   Rome,  he  was  not  long  before  he  revealed  a  still  more 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  73 

bitter  hatred  of  all  Baptists,  English  and  Continental.  The 
year  in  which  he  became  supreme  head  of  the  Established 
Church  in  England,  two  proclamations  were  published  against 
Baptists  and  the  followers  of  Zwingle.  Many  of  the  King's 
subjects,  we  are  told,  "had  been  induced  and  encouraged, 
arrogantly  and  superstitiously  (?)  to  argue  and  dispute  in  open 
places,  taverns,  and  ale-houses,  not  only  upon  baptism,  but 
also  upon  the  sacrament  of  the  altar;  "  and,  to  put  a  stop  to 
these  "pestilent  fellows,"  the  King  declares  that,  "like  a 
godly  and  Catholic  prince,  he  abhorreth  and  detesteth  the  same 
sects,  and  their  wicked  and  abominable  errors  and  opinions, 
and  intendeth  to  proceed  against  such  of  them  as  be  already 
apprehended,  according  to  their  merits,  and  the  laws  of  the 
realm."  Ten  days  only  were  allowed  to  all  who  held  these 
"pestilent  heresies"  to  leave  the  country.  Close  upon  the 
heels  ^of  this  followed  a  second  proclamation  still  more 
severe.  Many  strangers  in  England,  "  who  had  been  baptized 
in  infancy,  but  had  contemned  that  holy  sacrament,  and  had 
presumptuously  re-baptized  themselves,  were  spreading  every- 
where their  heresies  against  God  and  His  Holy  Scriptures  to  the 
great  unquietness  of  Christendom,  and  perdition  of  innumerable 
Christian  souls  ;  "  and  the  King,  forsooth,  "  daily  studying  and 
minding  above  all  things  to  save  his  loving  subjects  from  falling 
into  any  erroneous  opinions,"  warns  them  to  depart  from  Eng- 
land within  twelve  days,  reminds  them  that  some  of  their  com- 
pany are  already  convicted,  and  will  presently  "  suffer  the 
pains  of  death,"  and  threatens  all  other  Anabaptists  and 
Zwinglians  with  the  same  fate,  if  they  are  caught.  The  follow- 
ing year  ten  were  put  to  death,  and  ten  saved  their  lives  by 
recantation.  Besides  these,  fourteen  Hollanders  were  burnt 
for  holding  "  damnable  errors  drawn  from  an  indiscreet  use  of 
the  Scriptures." 

Four  years  past  away,  when  a  third  proclamation  was  issued, 
this  time  appointing  Cranmer  and  eight  others  to  make  dili- 
gent search  for  Anabaptist  men,  books,  and  letters.     Full  power 


74  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

was  given  to  Cranmer  and  his  party  to  deal  capitally  with  each 
obstinate  heretic.  Books  and  men  were,  "  at  their  pleasure," 
to  be  committed  to  the  flames.  Little  seems  to  have  come  of 
this  ;  since  a  month  later  a  fifth  proclamation  was  issued,  for- 
bidding unlicensed  books  from  being  imported  or  printed,  and 
singling  out  for  special  condemnation  the  works  of  Baptists  and 
Zwinglians.  The  same  month,  November  1538,  some  of  these 
hated  and  persecuted  people  were  burnt  in  Smithfield  ;  and  the 
following  month,  in  consequence  of  the  King's  letter  to  the 
justices  of  the  peace  throughout  the  country,  in  which  increased 
rigour  was  enjoined  against  the  unfortunate  Baptists,  numbers 
fled  to  Holland,  where  they  were  betrayed.  On  the  7th  of 
January,  1539,  fifteen  women  were  drowned,  and  sixteen  men 
beheaded.  The  King,  still  failing  in  his  efforts,  now  adopts  a 
milder  course.  He  is  pleased  to  speak  of  himself,  as  "like  a 
most  loving  parent  much  moved  with  pity  "  for  the  "  many 
simple  persons"  who  have  been  seduced  by  Anabaptists  and 
Sacramentarians,  and  offers  "all  and  singular  such  persons" 
his  royal  forgiveness.  This  parental  feeling  did  not  last  many 
months,  since  in  July,  1540,  those  who  declared  "  that  infants 
ought  not  to  be  baptized,"  were  specially  exempted  from  all 
benefit  in  a  general  pardon.  But  neither  threats  .nor  cajolery 
prevented  the  spread  of  Baptist  opinions.  Like  the  Israelites 
in  Egypt,  "  the  more  they  were  afllicted,  the  more  they  multi- 
plied and  grew." 

Nor  did  the  position  of  Baptists  much  improve  under  the 
reign  of 

Edward  the  Sixth  (1547—1553). 

In  the  first  year  of  Edward's  reign,  Ridley  and  Gardiner 
united  together  in  a  commission  to  deal  with  two  Baptists  in 
Kent.  A  Protestant  Inquisition  was  established,  with  Cranmer 
at  its  head.  They  were  to  pull  up  "  the  noxious  weeds  of 
heresy."  Their  work  was  to  be  done  with  the  forms  of  justice 
and  in  secret.     They  might  fine,  imprison,  torture,  and,   in  all 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  75 

cases  of  obstinate  heretics,  hand  them  over  to  the  civil  power 
to  be  burnt.  Four  years  later  this  commission  was  renewed, 
and  in  the  same  year  Baptists  were  a  second  time  excluded 
from  a  general  pardon.  It  was  this  Inquisition  that  condemned 
Joan  Bocher,  and  scattered,  or  tried  to  scatter,  the  congrega- 
gations  of  Baptists  gathered  in  Kent.  Still  their  numbers  in- 
creased. Strype  tells  us  that  "  their  opinions  were  believed 
by  many  honest  meaning  people  ;  "  and  another  writer  affirms, 
that  the  articles  of  religion,  issued  just  before  the  King's  death, 
"  were  principally  designed  to  vindicate  the  English  Keformation 
from  that  slur  and  disgrace  which  the  Anabaptists'  tenets  had 
brought  upon  it,"  a  clear  proof  that  the  Baptists  were,  at  that 
period,  neither  few  nor  unimportant. 

The  sour  bigot,  who  next  occupied  the  English  throne,  made 
matters  worse,  although  Baptists  were  now  partly  lost  in  the 
common  ranks  of  Protestants. 

,    Mary  (1553—1558) 

regarded  herself  asa"  virgin  sent  from  heaven  to  rule  and  tame 
the  people  of  England."  How  faithfully  she  executed  her  pre- 
tended mission,  a  long  array  of  martyrs  too  surely  testifies. 
Essex  had  the  honour  of  yielding  scores  of  Baptist  martyrs 
during  this  gloomy  reign.  Humphrey  Middleton,  and  three 
others,  were  burnt  at  Canterbury  in  1535.  "  Would  to  G-od," 
wrote  the  Commissioners  who  visited  Essex,  and  especially  the 
district  around  Colchester,  to  find  fresh  victims  for  the  martyr's 
stake — "  Would  to  God  the  Honourable  Council  saw  the  face  of 
Essex  as  we  do  see  it.  We  have  such  obstinate  heretics,  Ana- 
baptists, and  other  unruly  persons  here  as  never  was  heard  of. 
If  we  should  give  it  off  in  the  midst  "  [that  is,  cease  their  dis- 
graceful work],  "  we  should  set  the  country  in  such  a  roar,  that 
my  estimation,  [reputation]  and  that  of  the  Commissioners, 
shall  ever  be  lost." 

That  some  who  avowed  their  belief  in  the  doctrines   com- 
monly held  by  the  Baptists  recanted,  when  the  rack  dislocated 


76  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

their  limbs,  and  the  shadow  of  the  stake  fell  upon  them,  is  no 
more  than  one  might  expect.  It  is  not  every  woman  that  can 
bear  to  have  her  joints  racked,  "  and  lie  still  and  not  cry," 
as  Ann  Askew  did;  and  "  even  suffer  her  bones  and  joints  to  be 
plucked  asunder  in  such  sort  that  she  was  nigh  unto  death," 
without  breathing  a  single  syllable  of  recantation.  It  is  not 
every  man  who  can  face  his  scowling  judges,  when  they  were 
athirst  for  his  blood,  and  extort  the  declaration  from  one  of 
them,  "  that  he  was  the  most  unshamefaced  heretic  he  ever 
saw  ;  "  and  then,  after  being  "  baited,"  now  by  one  inquisitor, 
and  now  by  another,  go  back  to  his  prison  cell,  and  write 
cheery  notes  to  his  wife,  sending  therewith  "  a  threepenny 
token  and  comfits  for  little  Katherine  ;  two  nutmegs,  "  a  poor 
prisoner's  gift,"  to  some  friends  ; "  two  pieces  of  Spanish 
money,  and  a  key-log  for  a  token  to  his  wife,  wishing  "  she 
could  make  means  for  her  money  to  send  a  cheese  to  Peter  ;  " 
and  in  the  midst  of  these  touching  traits  of  human  affection 
and  home  feeling,  bursting  out  into  a  passionate  petition,  "  Be 
fervent  in  prayer.  Pray,  pray,  pray  !  that  God  would,  of  His 
mercy,  put  up  His  sword,  and  look  on  His  people  !  "  But 
though  some  could  not  endure  the  ordeal  of  fire,  many  showed, 
like  Kobert  Smith,  a  yeoman  of  the  guard  at  Windsor,  the 
heroism  of  their  faith. 

Another  instance  may  be  given.  Kobert  Smith  had  declared 
to  Bonner,  that  "  it  was  a  shameful  blasphemy  to  use  such 
mingle-mangle  "  as  holy  oil,  salt,  and  other  things,  "  in  bap- 
tizing young  infants."  John  Denby  shook  the  nerves  of  the 
same  irate  bishop  by  assuring  him  ''that  the  christening  of 
children,  as  then  used  in  the  Church  of  England,  was  not  good, 
nor  allowable  by  God's  Word,  but  against  it ;  likewise  con- 
firming children,  giving  of  orders,  saying  of  matins  and  even- 
songs, anointing  of  persons,  making  of  holy  bread  and  holy 
water."  Denby,  and  his  friend  Newman,  both  of  Maidstone, 
were  pounced  upon  by  an  arch  and  bitter  enemy  of  the  Baptists. 
The  persecutor  had  just  returned  from  the  burning  of  some 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


heretics  either  at  Raleigh  or  Rochford,  when  he  fell  in  with 
these  friends,  then  visiting  in  Essex.  "  Even  as  I  saw  them 
I  suspected  them,"  says  this  sleuth-hound  of  Bonner.  "And 
when  I  did  examine  and  search  them,  and  found  about  them 
certain  letters,  which  I  have  sent  you,  and  also  a  certain 
writing  in  paper  what  their  faith  is.  And  they  confessed  to  me 
that  they  had  forsaken  and  fled  out  of  their  country  for  re- 
ligion's sake."  Denby  and  his  friend  were  hurried  off  to 
Bonner's  palace,  where  both  remain  firm  to  their  faith.  "  As 
touching  the  christening,  the  sacrament  of  baptism,  which  is 
christening  of  children,"  said  Denby,  "it  is  altered  and 
changed.  For  St.  John  used  nothing  but  the  preaching  of  the 
Word  and  water,  as  it  doth  appear  when  Christ  required  to  be 
baptized  of  him,  and  others  also,  who  came  to  John  to  be 
baptized  of  him,  as  it  appeareth  in  Matt,  iii.,  Mark  i.,  Luke 
iii.  and  Acts  i.  The  chamberlain  said,  '  See,  here  is  water ; 
what  doth  hinder  me  to  be  baptized  ?  '  It  appeareth  here,  that 
Philip  had  preached  to  him  :  for  he  said,  'Here  is  water.'  We 
do  not  read  that  he  asked  for  any  cream,  oil,  or  spittle,  or 
conjured  water,  or  conjured  wax,  no  croysom,  no  salt,  for  it 
seemeth  that  Philip  had  preached  no  such  things  to  him ;  for 
he  would  as  well  have  asked  for  them  as  water ;  and  the  water 
was  not  conjured,  but  even  as  it  was  before.  Also  Acts  x., 
1  Then  answered  Peter,  Can  any  forbid  water,  that  these  should 
not  be  baptized  ? '  Acts  xvi.,  ■  And  Paul  and  Silas  preached 
unto  him  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  and  to  all  that  were  in  his 
house  ;  and  he  took  them  the  same  hour  of  the  night,  and 
washed  their  wounds ;  and  so  was  he  baptized,  and  all  them  of 
his  household  straightway : '  where  you  see  nothing  but  preach- 
ing and  the  Word." 

Denby  was  condemned  and  burnt  at  Uxbridge.  He  gave 
expression  to  his  joy,  even  in  suffering ;  but  a  fanatical  perse- 
cutor, urged  by  Dr.  Story,  hurled  a  faggot  at  his  face  :  "  where- 
with, being  so  burnt  that  his  face  bled,  he  left  singing,  and 
clapt  both  his  hands  upon  his  face."  "  Truly,"  said  the  inhuman 


78  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

doctor  to  the  man  who  obeyed  his  malicious  command,  "  Truly 
thou  hast  marred  a  good  song."  The  brutal  jest  was  only 
half  true.  Denby  recovered  himself;  and  "  stretching  his 
hands  abroad,  whilst  the  flames  were  licking  off  the  skin  and 
flesh,  he  burst  into  another  song,  and  then  resigned  his  soul 
into  the  hands  of  God,  through  Jesus  Christ."  Newman  did 
not  long  survive  his  friend.  He  was  burnt  at  the  end  of  the 
same  month  at  Saffron  Walden. 

Many  of  the  Baptists  who  perished  during  this  reign  are 
purposely  hidden  by  Fox  in  the  crowd  of  other  sufferers. 
Either  from  a  desire  to  please  the  ruling  party  in  his  day,  or 
from  dislike  to  the  men  who  could  not  sound  his  shibboleth, 
the  Martyrologist  has  slighted  the  Baptists.  He  commonly 
omits  all  reference  to  their  sufferings,  or  suppresses  the  par- 
ticulars by  which  we  could  identify  them  as  belonging  to  the 
"  sect  everywhere  spoken  against." 

The  last  of  the  Tudors  treated  the  Baptists  with  very 
little  pity. 

Elizabeth  (1558—1603) 

had  scarcely  been  on  the  throne  four  years,  before  Baptists, 
"  natural  born  people  of  the  land  and  foreigners,"  were  ordered 
to  depart  within  twenty  days,  upon  pain  of  imprisonment  and 
loss  of  goods.  This  was  a  terrible  blow,  since  many  exiles, 
full  of  hope  for  future  liberty  and  peace  in  their  own  land,  had 
returned  from  their  places  of  sojourn  abroad.  The  "  bright 
occidental  star,"  whose  rising  had  been  hailed  at  home  and 
abroad,  heralded  nothing  but  evil  to  the  much-defamed  Ana- 
baptists. They  crept  out  of  their  numerous  hiding-places  "an 
exceeding  great  army,"  *  but  only  to  find  themselves  in  the 

*  The  remorseless  butcheries  of  Alva  had  driven  many  Dutch  Baptists  into 

England.  "  The  realm,'' said  Dr.  Parker,  "was  full  of  Anabaptists,  Arians,"' 
&c.  Many  Anglican  divines  of  the  same  period  give  similar  testimony. 
Aylmer  speaks  of  "Anabaptists,  with  infinite  swarms  of  other  Satanistes; "' 
Jewel,  of  "large  and  inauspicious  crops  of  Arians  and  Anabaptists;7'  and 
Some,  of  "  Anabaptist  conventicles  in  London,  and  elsewhere." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  79 

presence  of  peril  and  suffering  from  Protestant  persecutors. 
The  virulent  misrepresentations  of  the  trimming  Cranmer,  the 
sturdy  Latimer,  the  gentle  Hooper,  and  the  able  Ridley  of 
earlier  days,  were  now  repeated,  with  variations,  by  the 
judicious  Hooker,  the  vehement  and  impetuous  Knox,  and 
many  men  of  inferior  reputation.  The  Queen's  proclamation 
against  Anabaptists  was  seconded  by  her  obsequious  bishops, 
although  Parkhurst,  Bishop  of  Norwich,  forms  an  honourable 
exception.  He  was  still  regarded  as  "  winking  at  heretics  and 
Anabaptists,"  and  special  inquiry  was  therefore  ordered  to  be 
made  in  his  diocese. 

In  1568  the  Queen  ordered  a  general  visitation  to  be  made  in 
every  parish  through  England,  wherever  strangers  congregated, 
to  hunt  out  Anabaptists  and  other  teachers  of  what  she  deemed 
"evil  doctrine."  Many  Germans  and  Flemings  suffered  in 
consequence  of  these  repressive  measures.  Numbers  of  English 
Baptists  also  fled  to  the  Continent  for  safety.  About  seven 
years  after  this  visitation,  two  Dutchmen  were  burnt  in  Smith- 
field — Hendrick  Terwoort  and  Jan  Pieters — with  the  story  of 
whose  end  everyone  is  familiar.  The  old  and  barbarous  writ 
against  heretics  (de  hceretico  comburendo),  which  had  been 
passed  at  a  Parliament  held  in  Leicester  a  century  and  a  half 
before,  had  been  hung  up  by  the  Queen  as  a  menace,  but  it  was 
now  put  into  execution.  Terwoort  and  Pieters  were  the  only 
two  victims  who  perished  at  the  stake  ;  but  many  languished  in 
loathsome  dungeons,  and  more  Baptists  were  expelled  from 
England  during  Elizabeth's  reign,  than  during  the  reign  of  any 
other  sovereign  that  ever  sat  on  the  throne  of  these  realms. 

The  Baptists  fared  but  badly  under  the  Tudors  ;  they  fared 
little  better  under  the  Stuarts. 

James  the  First  (1603—1625) 

talked  liberally  enough,  but  his  practice  did  not  agree  with  his 
words.     "  No  State,"  said  James  the  First,  "  can  evidence  that 


co  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


any  religion  or  heresy  was  ever  extirpated  by  the  sword,  nor 
have  I  ever  judged  it  a  way  of  planting  the  truth."     Yet  two 
men  were  burnt  for  their  opinions,  Bartholomew  Leygate  and 
Edward  Wightman.     "Wightman  has  been  claimed  as  an  Ana- 
baptist ;    but  so  many  heresies   are  charged  upon  him,  some 
foolish,  others  inconsistent,  that  if  he  held  them  all,  he  must 
either  be  regarded  as  a  madman  or  an  idiot.     James  the  First 
dealt  roughly  with  the  Baptists.     From  Busher's  treatise,  pub- 
lished some  years  after  James'  ascension  to  the  throne,  there  is 
strong  proof  that  "  his  Majesty's  bishops  and  ministers  had 
been  armed  and  wcaponed  with  fire  and  sword,  and  not  with 
Scripture."     It  was  the  thought  of  numbers  who  were  falling 
astray    or    into   error    because   of    persecution,    that    induced 
Helwyss  and  others,  to  return  to  England  ;  and  in  the  pamphlet 
of  which  these  Anabaptists  were  the  authors,  they  tell  the  King 
"that   it  is  no  small  persecution  to  lie  many  years  in  filthy 
prisons,  in  hunger,  cold,  idleness,  divided  from  wife,  family, 
calling ;  left   in    continual   miseries    and   temptations,   so   that 
death  would  be  to  many  less  persecution."     A  similar  revela- 
tion of  their   condition  is    made  in  the   Humble   Supplication 
presented  to  the  King  in  1620 : — "  Our  miseries  are  long  and 
lingering  imprisonments  for  many  years  in  divers  counties  in 
England,    in   which  many   have    died,    and   left  behind  them 
widows,  and  manj-  small  children ;  taking  away  our  goods,  and 
others  the  like,  of  which  we  can  make  good  probation :  not  for 
any  disloyalty  to  your  Majesty,  nor  hurt  to   any  mortal  man, 
our  adversaries  themselves  being  judges  ;  but  only  because  we 
dare  not  assent  unto,  and  practise  in  the  worship  of  God,  such 
things  as  we  have  not  faith  in,  because  it  is  sin  against  the 
Most  High."     They  appeal  to  the  King  "  to  repeal  and  make 
void  those  cruel  laws  that  persecute  poor  men  only  for  matters 
of    conscience."      These   general   declarations   will   6how  the 
melancholy  condition  of  Baptists  under  the  meanest  and  most 
despicable  sovereign  that  ever  held  an  English  sceptre. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  81 

His  son  and  successor, 

Charles  the  First  (1625—1642), 

bettered  his  father's  instructions.  He  had  scarcely  been  on  the 
throne  twelve  months  before  the  spies  of  Laud  pounced  upon 
Thomas  Brewer,  a  zealous  Baptist  preacher,  at  Ashford,  in 
Kent.  Brewer  was  dragged  before  the  High  Commission  Court, 
and  committed  to  prison,  where  he  remained  no  less  than  four- 
teen years.  Laud,  speaking  of  "the  mischief"  done  by 
Brewer  and  others,  declares,  "  that  it  is  so  deeply  rooted,  it  is 
impossible  to  be  plucked  up  on  a  sudden."  He  asks  the  King 
for  "  time  to  work  it  off,  little  by  little  !  "  It  appears,  however, 
from  the  account  of  his  province  sent  to  the  King  eleven  years 
after  Brewer  was  imprisoned,  that  Laud  adopted  anytbing  but 
dilatory  and  indirect  methods  for  accomplishing  his  ends.  "  I 
must  give  your  Majesty  to  understand,"  says  Laud,  "  that  at 
and  about  Ashford,  in  Kent,  the  Separatists  continue  to  hold 
then-  conventicles,  notwithstanding  the  ex-communication  of  so 
many  of  them  as  have  been  disclosed.  Two  or  three  of  their 
principal  ringleaders,  Brewer,  Fenner,  and  Turner,  have  been 
long  kept  in  prison,  and  it  was  once  thought  fit  to  proceed 
against  them  by  the  statute  of  abjuration.  Not  long  since 
Brewer  slipt  out  of  prison,  and  went  to  Rochester  and  other 
parts  of  Kent,  and  held  conventicles,  and  put  a  great  many 
people  into  great  distemper  about  the  Church.  He  is  taken 
again,  and  was  called  before  the  High  Commission,  when  he  stood 
silent ;  but  in  such  a  jeering,  scornful  manner  as  I  scarcely 
ever  saw  the  like.  So  in  prison  he  remains."  In  1640  Brewer 
was  released  from  prison  by  order  of  the  House  of  Commons. 

It  was,  however,  in  the  same  year  in  which  Brewer  was 
set  at  liberty  that  a  convocation  of  the  bishops  and  clergy 
of  York  and  Canterbury  was  held  in  London,  with  more  pomp 
and  parade  than  the  troublesome  state  of  the  times  justified. 
At  this  Synod  seventeen  canons  were  adopted.  One  of  them, 
under  the  pretext  of  discouraging  Popery,  but  evidently  with 


82  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  design  of  crushing  Dissenters,  ran  as  follows: — "  All 
ecclesiastical  persons  within  their  several  parishes  and  jurisdic- 
tions shall  confer  privately  with  Popish  recusants ;  but  if 
private  conference  prevail  not,  the  Church  must  and  shall  come 
to  her  censures  ;  and  to  make  way  for  them,  such  persons  shall 
be  presented  at  the  next  visitation  who  came  not  to  church,  and 
refuse  to  receive  the  holy  sacrament,  or  who  either  hear  or  say 
mass  ;  and  if  they  remain  obstinate  after  citation,  they  shall  be 
ex-communicated.  But  if  neither  conference  nor  censures  pre- 
vail, the  Church  shall  then  complain  of  them  to  the  civil 
power ;  and  this  sacred  (?)  synod  does  earnestly  entreat  the 
reverend  justices  of  assize  to  be  careful  in  executing  the  laws, 
as  they  will  answer  it  to  God. 

"  The  synod  further  declares,  that  the  canon  above-men- 
tioned against  Papists  shall  be  in  full  force  against  all  Ana- 
baptists, Brownists,  Separatists,  and  other  sectaries,  as  far  as 
they  are  applicable." 

The  following  year,  to  the  great  relief  of  many  persons,  the 
High  Courts  of  Commission  and  the  Star  Chamber  were  both 
dissolved  by  Act  of  Parliament.  The  spirit  of  persecution  was 
not  thereby  destroyed.  The  Act  abolishing  these  two  courts 
decreed,  "that  none  should  be  erected  with  like  powers  in 
future."  Yet  in  the  same  year,  Edward  Barber,  the  minister  of 
a  congregation  of  Baptists  in  the  Spittle,  Bishopsgate-street, 
London,  was  committed  to  prison  for  eleven  months.  His  only 
offence  was  the  publication  of  "A  treatise  on  Baptism,  or 
dipping;  wherein  is  already  showed,"  says  the  title-page,  "that 
our  Lord  Christ  ordained  dipping,  and  that  sprinkling  of  children 
is  not  according  to  Christ's  institution  :  and  also  the  invalidity  of 
those  arguments  which  are  commonly  brought  to  justify  that 
practice."  Mr.  Barber  had  once  been  a  clergyman  in  the 
Established  Church. 

The  Civil  War  (1642—1649). 

Hitherto  the  Baptists  had  suffered  from  the  arbitrary  power 
of  Protestant  and  Popish   sovereigns   and  their  ready   tools ; 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  83 


they  were  now  to  have  a  taste  of  Presbyterian  oppression. 
Presbyterianism  was  in  the  ascendant  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  retained  its  predominance  among  the  Parliamen- 
tarians for  some  years.  The  Presbyterian  ministers  began  to 
clamour  for  the  suppression  of  the  Sectaries,  as  they  styled  the 
Baptists  and  Independents.  "  If  you  do  not  labour,"  said 
Calamy,  in  a  sermon  preached  before  the  House  of  Commons  in 
1644,  "according  to  your  duty  and  power  to  suppress  the 
errors  and  heresies  that  are  spread  in  the  kingdom,  all  these 
errors  are  your  errors,  and  these  heresies  are  your  heresies. 
They  are  your  sins  ;  and  God  calls  for  a  Parliamentary  repen- 
tance from  you  this  day.  You  are  the  Anabaptists,  you  are 
the  Antinomians,  and  it  is  you  that  hold  all  religions  should 
be  tolerated."  "Is  it  persecution,"  said  Dr.  Burgess,  in 
another  sermon  before  the  House  the  year  after  (April  30th, 
1645),  "Is  it  persecution  and  anti-Christianism  to  engage  all  to 
unity  and  uniformity  ?  Doth  Paul  bid  the  Philippians  beware 
of  the  concision  ?  Doth  he  beseech  the  Romans  to  mark  those 
that  cause  divisions  and  offences  contrary  to  the  doctrines  they 
have  received,  and  avoid  them?  Doth  he,  in  writing  to  the 
Galatians,  wish  '  I  would  they  were  even  cut  off  that  trouble 
you  ?  '  And  is  it  such  an  heinous  offence  now  for  the  faithful 
servants  of  Christ  to  advise  you  by  the  same  course  ?  Good 
heavens  !  "  Even  Baxter  said,  "  I  abhor  unlimited  liberty  and 
toleration  of  all,  and  think  myself  easily  able  to  prove  the 
wickedness  of  it." 

The  same  year  that  Dr.  Burgess  preached  his  sermon,  Parlia- 
ment, now  filled  with  Presbyterians,  passed  an  ordinance, 
which  ran  as  follows  : — "  That  no  person  shall  be  permitted  to 
preach,  who  is  not  ordained  a  minister  of  this  (the  Presbyte- 
rian) or  some  other  Reformed  Church;  and  it  is  earnestly 
desired  that  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax  take  care  that  this  ordinance  be 
put  in  execution  in  the  army."  The  savage  and  bitter  Edwards, 
author  of  Gangrcena,  not  content  with  retailing  every  silly  and 
damaging  story  to  the  discredit   of  Baptists  that  any  gossips 

g2 


S4  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


might  bring  him,  calls  upon  the  magistrates  ''to  declare  that 
Anabaptists  who  go  dipping  persons  in  cold  water  in  winter, 
whereby  persons  fall  sick,  &c,  should  be  proceeded  against  as 
vagrants  and  rogues,  that  go  from  country  to  country  ;  "  that 
in  the  event  of  "  any  falling  sick  upon  their  dipping,  and  die," 
the  Anabaptists,  who  administered  the  rite,  "  should  be  indicted 
upon  the  statute  of  killing  the  King's  subjects,  and  be  pro- 
ceeded against  accordingly."  But  whatever  note  might  be 
taken  by  the  Presbyterian  admirers  of  Edward's  scandalous 
suggestions,  the  ordinance  of  the  Parliament  was  not  allowed 
to  remain  a  dead  letter.  Thomas  Lamb  was  one  of  the  earliest 
to  feel  its  severity. 

Lamb  was  a  native  of  Colchester,  and,  in  the  earlier  part  of 
the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  had  been  dragged  in  chains  from 
that  city  to  London  by  the  emissaries  of  Laud,  being  cited  to 
appear  before  the  Star  Chamber.  The  fanatical  and  persecuting 
Archbishop  asked  him,  "If  he  had  dared  to  administer  the 
holy  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  ?  "  Lamb  pleaded  the 
right  of  an  Englishman  not  to  bear  witness  against  himself,  and 
refused  to  answer.  He  was  rudely  ordered  back  to  prison 
during  the  pleasure  of  the  Court,  and  for  some  months  re- 
mained in  custody.  His  devoted  wife  besieged  the  Court  with 
her  prayers  for  her  husband's  liberation,  not  merely  for  her  own 
sake,  but  for  the  sake  of  her  eight  young  children.  "  Take 
that  troublesome  woman  away  !  "  shrieked  out  the  Archbishop 
to  the  court  officers  ;  and  Mrs.  Lamb  was  forcibly  ejected  from 
the  Star  Chamber.  It  is  not  known  by  what  means  he  re- 
gained his  liberty ;  but  such  was  his  zeal  in  his  Master's  ser- 
vice, that  though  he  had  been  in  all  the  gaols  in  and  about 
London  on  account  of  his  recusancy,  he  no  sooner  regained  his 
liberty  than  he  instantly  returned  to  his  pastoral  and  itinerating 
labours.  He  was  wont  to  say,  that  no  man  was  fit  to  preach 
Christ's  Gospel  who  was  not  also  ready  to  die  for  it  the  moment 
he  had  done.  Animated  by  such  quenchless  zeal  and  fearless 
courage,  he  speedily  gathered  about  him  a  Christian  community, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  85 

which  usually  met  in  Bell  Alley,  Colenian-street,  London.  A 
flourishing  church  was  already  in  existence  at  the  beginning  of 
the  quarrel  between  King  Charles  and  his  Parliament.  The 
congregation  was  large,  and  the  yard  of  the  chapel  was  not  un- 
frequently  crowded  with  eager  listeners.  The  church  became  a 
missionary  centre,  and  labourers  went  forth  into  Bedfordshire, 
Cambridgeshire,  and  other  counties.  Conspicuous  among  these 
itinerating  preachers  was  Henry  Denne,  formerly  a  clergyman 
at  Pyrton,  in  Hertford,  a  man  of  great  decision  and  courage, 
and  very  largely  successful. 

Soon  after  the  ordinance  against  unlicensed  preachers  was 
enacted  by  Parliament,  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London  sent  officers 
to  arrest  Lamb  and  his  assistants.  Their  arrival  at  Bell  Alley 
Chapel  was  the  signal  for  a  great  tumult,  and  provoked,  in  their 
hearing,  some  not  very  complimentary  language.  When  Mr. 
Lamb  had  succeeded  in  repressing  the  agitation  of  his  friends, 
he  spoke  courteously  to  the  officers,  asked  permission  to  con- 
tinue the  service,  and  pledged  his  word  that  at  six  o'clock  the 
same  evening  he  himself  and  the  young  preacher,  whose  dis- 
course they  had  interrupted,  should  both  appear  before  the  Lord 
Mayor.  The  officers  then  retired,  and  the  service  proceeded. 
Punctually  to  the  time  both  Mr.  Lamb  and  his  young  help- 
fellow  made  their  appearance.  The  Lord  Mayor  began  by 
calling  their  attention  to  the  recent  ordinance  of  Parliament. 
He  then  asked  the  young  man,  "  Why  do  you  preach?  and 
where  is  your  warrant  ?  "  "  The  Lord  hath  opened  my  mouth," 
he  replied,  "and  I  must  show  forth  His  praise."  The  Lord 
Mayor  suggested  that  he  might  do  this  by  a  right  discharge  of 
his  duties  as  a  private  Christian."  Lord  Mayor — "How  long 
have  you  been  a  preacher?"  Mr.  Lamb's  Assistant — "Ever 
since  I  was  baptized."  Lord  Mayor  (whose  thoughts  were 
running  on  infant  baptism) — "  Hath  your  mouth  been  open 
ever  since  your  infancy?"  Mr.  Lamb's  Assistant — "My 
infant  baptism  was  no  baptism.  I  have  not  been  baptized  more 
than  six  months." 


S6  BYE-PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

It  was  now  Mr.  Lamb's  turn  to  be  questioned.  "  Have  you 
not  transgressed  an  ordinance  of  Parliament?"  asked  the  Lord 
Mayor.  "No,"  said  Lamb,  quoting  the  precise  words  of  the 
Ordinance  itself,  "  I  am  a  preacher  called  and  chosen  b 
reformed  a  church  as  any  in  the  world."  On  further  inquiry, 
Mr.  Lamb  frankly  acknowledged  that  he  and  his  friends  did  not 
regard  infant  baptism  as  valid.  The  two  men  were  bound  over 
to  appear  before  a  Committee  of  Parliament.  A  brief  hearing 
before  that  Committee  decided  their  case,  and  both  were  hurried 
off  to  prison.  They  were  afterwards  released  by  the  inter- 
cession of  powerful  friends,  and  again  returned  with  fresh  zeal 
and  boldness  to  their  work. 

It  was  during  the  time  immediately  following  his  release, 
that  Thomas  Lamb  baptized  the  wife  of  a  man  who  was 
a  bitter  enemy  of  the  Baptists.  The  ordinance  was  ad- 
ministered in  the  Old  Ford  river,  near  Bromley,  a  spot 
commonly  selected  for  that  purpose  by  Thomas  Lamb  and  his 
friends.  The  husband  was  among  the  crowd  of  spectators, 
hiding  under  his  coat  a  heavy  stone,  which  he  intended  to 
throw  at  Mr.  Lamb  whilst  he  was  standing  in  the  river,  ready 
to  administer  the  rite  of  baptism.  But  the  fervent  prayer 
of  the  preacher  touched  his  heart,  the  stone  was  per- 
mitted to  slide  noiselessly  to  the  ground,  and  tears  filled 
the  eyes  of  the  softened  and  penitent  husband :  he  was 
himself  the  next  person  baptized  by  Mr.  Lamb  in  the  Old 
Ford  river. 

Paul  Hobson  was  another  victim.  He  was  a  zealous  Bap- 
tist ;  had  helped  to  found  a  Baptist  Church  in  London ;  signed 
the  Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches  in  164-1  ;  and  in  1645 
entered  the  army.  He  still  retained  his  zeal,  and  "  wherever 
he  came,  would  preach  publicly  in  the  pulpits,  and  privately  to 
the  soldiers."  He  is  regarded  as  the  founder  of  several  Baptist 
Churches  in  the  West  of  England.  Hobson,  now  Captain 
Hobson,  was  taken  into  custody,  by  the  Governor  of  Newport 
Pagnell,  for   preaching   against   infant   baptism.     After   being 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  87 

kept  there  a  prisoner  for  a  short  time,  Sir  Samuel  Lake,  the 
governor  (the  original  of  Butler's  Hudibras,  and  with  whom 
Butler  resided  during  the  interregnum),  sent  him  to  London. 
His  case  was  brought  before  the  Committee  of  Examination, 
and  having  some  powerful  friends,  upon  being  heard,  he  was 
discharged.  Edwards  says  that  Hobson  afterwards  preached 
regularly  every  Wednesday  in  Chequer  Alley,  Finsbury  Fields. 

The  following  May  (1645),  the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  the 
Court  of  Aldermen,  and  the  Common  Council,  presented  a 
petition  to  Parliament,  praying  "  that  some  strict  and  speedy 
course  might  be  taken  for  suppressing  all  private  and  separate 
congregations ;  that  all  Anabaptists,  Brownists,  heretics  and 
schismatics,  blasphemers,  and  all  other  sectaries,  who  con- 
formed not  to  the  public  discipline  established,  or  to  be 
established  by  Parliament,  may  be  fully  declared  against,  and 
some  effectual  course  settled  for  proceeding  against  such  per- 
sons ;  and  that  no  person  disaffected  to  Presbyterian  govern- 
ment set  forth,  or  to  be  set  forth,  by  Parliament,  may  be 
employed  in  any  place  of  public  trust."  This  intolerant  and 
infamous  request  is  commonly  known  as  the  City  'Remonstrance. 
The  appeal  of  the  Lord  Mayor  and  his  colleagues  was  backed 
by  the  whole  Scottish  nation,  and  all  the  Presbyterians  in 
England.  A  month  after  its  presentation,  the  General  Assembly, 
in  moving  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the  London  civic  authorities  and 
their  companions,  commends  them  for  their  courage  and  their 
firm  adherence  to  the  Covenant,  and  beseeches  them  to  go  on 
boldly  in  their  work  until  the  three  kingdoms  were  united  in 
one  faith  and  worship. 

Some  of  the  Presbyterians  in  Lancashire  far  outstripped  the 
Lord  Mayor  and  his  colleagues  in  the  vehemence  with  which 
they  expressed  their  hatred  of  toleration.  They,  however, 
claimed  for  their  paper  this  title,  The  Harmonious  Consent  of  the 
Lancashire  ministers  with  their  brethren  in  London.  One  pas- 
sage will  give  a  taste  of  the  whole  :  "  Toleration  would  be 
putting  a  sword  into  a  madman's  hand ;  a  cup  of  poison  into 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


the  hand  of  a  child  ;  a  letting  loose  of  madmen  with  firebrands 
in  their  hand,  and  appointing  a  city  of  refuge  in  men's  con- 
sciences for  the  devil  to  fly  to  ;  a  laying  a  stumbling-block 
before  the  blind  ;  a  proclaiming  liberty  to  the  wolves  to  come 
into  Christ's  fold  to  prey  upon  the  lambs ;  neither  would 
it  provide  for  tender  consciences,  but  take  away  all  con- 
science." 

Nothing  loth  to  yield  to  this  pressure,  the  Presbyterian  Par- 
liament passed  "  A  declaration  against  all  such  persons  as  shall 
take  upon  them  to  preach  or  expound  the  Scriptures  in  any 
church  or  chapel,  or  any  other  publique  place,  except  they  be 
ordained  either  here  or  in  some  other  Reformed  Church."  The 
"  Declaration  was  also  ordered  to  be  forthwith  printed  and 
published ;  and  that  the  knights  and  burgesses  of  the  several 
counties  and  places  do  send  some  of  the  said  declarations  so 
printed,  in  the  several  counties  and  places  for  which  they  serve, 
to  be  there  published."  The  Declaration  is  as  follows  : — "The 
Commons  assembled  in  Parliament  do  declare,  That  they  do 
dislike,  and  will  proceed  against  all  such  persons  as  shall  take 
upon  them  to  preach,  or  expound  the  Scriptures  in  any  church 
or  chappel,  or  any  other  publique  place  (except  they  be  ordained 
either  here  or  in  some  other  Reformed  Church,  as  it  is  already 
prohibited  in  an  Order  of  both  Houses  of  26  April,  1645).  And 
likewise  against  all  such  Ministers  or  others,  as  shall  publish, 
or  maintain  by  Preaching,  Writing,  Printing,  or  any  other  way, 
anything  against  or  in  derogation  of  the  Church  Government, 
which  is  now  established  by  the  authority  of  both  Houses  of 
Parliament.  And  also  against  all  and  every  person  or  persons, 
who  shall  willingly  and  purposely  interrupt  and  disturb  a 
Preacher  who  is  in  the  publique  exercise  of  his  function.  And 
all  Justices  of  Peace,  Sheriffs,  Mayors,  Bailiffs,  and  other  Head 
Officers  of  Corporations,  and  all  Officers  of  the  Army,  are  to 
take  notice  of  this  Declaration  ;  and  by  all  lawful  ways  and 
means  to  prevent  offences  of  this  kind,  and  to  apprehend  all 
offenders,  and  give  notice  hereof  unto  this  House,  that  there- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  89 

upon  course  may  bee  speedily  taken  for  a  due  punishment  to 
bee  inflicted  upon  them." 

When  such  were  the  opinions  of  Presbyterians,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  Baptists,  ever  the  persistent  advocates  for  liberty 
of  conscience, — the  fullest,  freest,  and  broadest, — should  be  the 
special  victims  of  Presbyterian  intolerance. 

We  take  the  following  curious  illustration  from  the  account 
left  by  Edwards.  John  Sims,  a  Baptist  minister,  residing  at 
Southampton,  being  on  a  journey  to  Taunton,  in  Somerset,  was 
prevailed  upon  to  preach  in  a  parish  church.  Ee  was  appre- 
hended at  Bridgwater,  by  virtue  of  the  "  Declaration."  The 
Committee  of  the  County  finding  some  letters  upon  him  written 
to  friends  on  religious  subjects,  forwarded  them  to  London,  as 
the  ground  of  their  complaint  against  Mr.  Sims.  For  some 
cause  or  other  not  explained,  the  Government  did  not  at  once 
"  silence  "  Mr.  Sims  ;  and  Edwards,  therefore,  published  these 
letters,  with  his  own  charges  against  him.  The  letters  are 
innocent  either  of  heresy  or  rebellion;  but  the  "crimes"  of 
which  Mr.  Sims  was  guilty  were,  in  Edwards's  estimation,  of 
the  blackest  kind:  (1)  "  Denying  infant  baptism;"  and  (2) 
"  presuming  to  take  a  text,  and  preaching  before  two  Presbyterian 
ministers."  These  are  Edwards's  own  words  :  "  Sunday,  the  last 
of  May,  he  (Sims)  preached  in  the  parish  church  of  Middlesey  ; 
took  his  text  out  of  Col.  iii.  1,  before  one  Master  Mercer,  and 
Master  Esquier,  ministers,  with  a  hundred  more  persons ;  and 
being  desired  to  know  how  he  durst  presume  to  teach  so 
publicly,  being  not  called,  and  an  Ordinance  of  the  Parliament 
to  the  contrary,  answered  :  '  If  Peter  was  called,  so  was  he.' 
(2)  Being  desired  to  know  why  he  taught  contrary  to  the  law 
of  God,  and  the  laws  of  the  land,  he  answered,  '  Why  are 
they  suffered  to  teach  in  London  so  near  the  Parliament 
House  ?  '  and  that  he  allowed  of  the  Parliament,  so  far  as  they 
go  with  his  doctrine.  (3)  Being  desired  to  know  whether  he 
allowed  of  our  baptism,  he  answered,  '  No  ;  that  for  his  part  he 
was  baptized  by  one  Master  Sickelmoor,  and  his  manner  of 


go  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

baptizing  was,  that  the  aforesaid  Sickelmoor  went  first  into  the 
water,  and  he  after  him;  so  that  he,  for  his  part,  would  not 
allow  of  our  baptism.'  " 

Hanserd  Knollys  was  one  of  the  last  victims  to  this  Presby- 
terian rancour.  His  account  will  best  be  given  in  his  own 
words  : — "  The  Committee  for  plundering  ministers  sent  their 
warrant  to  the  keeper  of  Ely  House  to  apprehend  me,  and 
bring  me  in  safe  custody  before  them.  They  took  me  out  of 
my  house,  carried  me  to  Ely  House,  and  there  kept  me  prisoner 
several  days,  without  any  bail ;  and  at  last  carried  me  before 
the  Committee,  who  asked  me  several  questions,  to  which  I 
gave  sober  and  direct  answers.  Amongst  others,  the  chairman, 
Mr.  White,  asked  me  who  gave  me  authority  to  preach.  I  told 
him  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  then  asked  me  whether  I  was 
a  minister.  I  answered  that  I  was  made  a  priest  by  the  prelate 
of  Peterborough ;  but  I  had  renounced  that  ordination,  and  did 
here  again  renounce  the  same.  They  asked  me  by  what 
authority  I  preached  in  Bow  Church.  I  told  them,  after  I  had 
refused  the  desire  of  the  churchwardens  three  times  one  day 
after  another,  their  want  of  supply  and  earnestness  prevailed 
with  me,  and  I  went  thither.  They  opened  the  pulpit  door, 
and  I  went  up  and  preached  from  Isaiah  lviii.,  and  gave  them 
such  an  account  of  that  sermon  (thirty  ministers  of  the  Assembly 
of  Divines,  so-called,  being  present),  that  they  could  not  gain- 
say, but  made  me  withdraw,  and  said  nothing  to  me,  nor  could 
my  jailor  take  any  charge  of  me,  for  the  Committee  had  called 
for  him,  and  threatened  to  turn  him  out  of  his  place  for  keeping 
me  prisoner  so  many  days.  So  I  went  away  without  any  blame 
or'  paying  my  fees."  Soon  after  this,  Knollys  was  brought 
before  another  Committee,  that  of  examination,  on  the  score  of 
causing  great  disturbance  to  ministers  and  people  in  Suffolk. 
"I  was  stoned  out  of  the  pulpit,*'  says  Knollys,  "  and  prose- 
cuted at  a  privy  sessions,  and  fetched  out  of  the  country  sixty 
miles  to  London,  and  was  constrained  to  bring  up  four  or  five 
witnesses  of  good  repute  and  credit,   to  prove  and  vindicate 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  91 

myself  from  false  accusation."  A  second  time  he  satisfied  the 
higher  tribunal,  and  the  following  minute  was  entered  upon  the 
records  of  the  House  :  "  Ordered  :  that  Mr.  Kiffin  and  Mr. 
Knollys  be  permitted  to  preach  in  any  part  of  Suffolk,  at  the 
petition  of  the  Ipswich  men." 

But  every  Baptist  minister  was  not  equally  fortunate. 
Knollys,  probably,  got  more  merciful  treatment,  owing  to  a 
declaration  published  by  the  Lords  and  Commons  the  year 
before,  March  1647  :  "  That  as  the  Baptist  opinion  against 
infant  baptism  is  only  a  difference  about  a  circumstance  of  time 
in  the  administration  of  an  ordinance  ;  we  hold  it  fit  that  men 
should  be  convinced  by  the  Word  of  God  with  great  gentleness 
and  reason,  and  not  beaten  out  of  it  by  force  and  violence." 
The  same  year  in  which  Knollys  escaped  so  leniently,  an  ordi- 
nance of  Parliament  was  published,  one  article  of  which  ran 
thus:  "  Whosoever  shall  say  that  the  baptism  of  infants  is 
unlawful,  or  that  such  baptism  is  void,  and  that  such  persons 
ought  to  be  baptized  again,  and  in  pursuance  thereof  shall  bap- 
tize any  person  formerly  baptized  ;  or  shall  say  the  church 
government  by  Presbytery  is  anti- Christian  or  unlawful,  shall, 
upon  conviction  by  oath  of  two  witnesses,  or  by  his  own  con- 
fession, be  ordered  to  renounce  his  said  error  in  the  public 
congregation  of  the  parish  where  the  offence  was  committed ; 
in  case  of  refusal,  he  shall  be  committed  to  prison  until  he 
shall  find  sureties  that  he  will  not  publish  or  maintain  the  same 
error  any  more."  The  ordinance  itself  is  a  melancholy  witness 
to  the  persecuting  spirit  of  the  Presbyterians  of  that  day  ;  and, 
no  thanks  to  them,  if  it  was  never  used  as  an  engine  of  fierce 
and  remorseless  persecution. 

The  Commonwealth  (1649—1660). 

Three  months  after  the  King's  death,  Mr.  Kiffin  and  other 
leading  Baptists  in  London,  received  the  thanks  of  the  House 
of  Commons  for   repudiating,    in  their  petition,   the    opinions 


92  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

advocated  in  a  book  entitled,  The  Second  Part  of  England's 
New   Chains   discovered.      The   petitioners    declared,    in    their 
address,  that  though  this  book  had  been  read  in  some  of  their 
public   assemblies,  it  was  read  without  their  consent.     "  Our 
meetings,"  say  they,  "  are  not  at  all  to  intermeddle  with  the 
ordering  or  altering  of  the  civil  government,  but  solely  for  the 
advancement  of  the  Gospel."     After   their  address  had  been 
read,  they  were  called  to  the  bar   of  the   House,  when  the 
Speaker  returned  them   this   reply:    "  The    House  doth   take 
notice  of  the  good  affection  to  the  Parliament  and  public  you 
have  expressed  both  in  this  petition  and  other  ways  ;  that  they 
have  received  satisfaction  thereby,  concerning  your  disclaiming 
of  the  pamphlet  which  gave  such  just  offence  to  the  Parlia- 
ment ;  and  also  concerning  your  disposition  to  live  peaceably 
and    in    submission  to  the    civil  magistrate,   your  expressions 
whereof    they   account   very    Christian   and    seasonable ;    that 
for    yourselves     and     other     Christians    walking     answerably 
to    such   professions  as   in   this  petition  you   make,    they   do 
assure    you    of   liberty    and    protection,  so    far    as     God    shall 
enable  them,  in  all  tilings  consistent  with  godliness,  honesty,  and 
civil  peace ;  and  the  House  doth  give  you  leave  to  print  your 
petition." 

The  fruit  of  this  "  assurance  of  liberty  and  protection"  soon 
began  to  appear.  Baptist  churches  rapidly  sprang  into  exis- 
tence in  all  parts  of  the  country.  On  the  assumption  by 
Cromwell  of  the  style  and  title  of  Lord  Protector,  great  in- 
dignation was  felt  by  many  Baptists  in  the  army ;  but  it 
would  be  unfair  to  regard  the  biting  and  sarcastic  letter  written 
by  them  to  Cromwell  as  expressing  the  common  opinions  among 
Baptists.  Envious  and  disappointed  officers  might  declare,  in 
their  vexation,  "  Anabaptists  are  men  that  will  not  be  shuffled 
out  of  their  birthrights  as  free-born  people  of  England ;  "  but 
the  addresses  sent  to  the  Lord  Protector  from  the  Baptists  in 
Northumberland,  Yorkshire,  Derbyshire,  London,  and  Dublin, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  flattering  account  of  him  by  Richardson, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  93 


which  has  been  already  quoted  in  an  earlier  portion  of  this 
book,  show  that  the  Baptists  generally  had  no  fear  as  to  their 
protection    and   liberty.     Nor   were   they   disappointed.     The 
Council,    soon     after   Cromwell's   installation,   issued  a    State 
paper,   containing  some  forty-two  articles  ;  and  in  the  thirty- 
sixth  it  is  declared,  "  that  none  shall  be  compelled  to  conform  to 
the  public  religion  by  penalties  and  otherwise ;  but  that  endea- 
vours be  used  to  win  them  by  sound  doctrine,  and  the  example 
of  a  good  conversation."     In  the  thirty- seventh  it  is  further 
ordered,  "that  such  as  profess  faith  in  God  by  Jesus  Christ, 
though  differing  in  judgment  from  the  doctrine,  worship,  or 
discipline  publicly  held  forth,  shall  not  be  restrained  from,  but 
shall  be  protected  in,  the  profession  of  their  faith  and  the  exer- 
cise of  their  religion,  so  as  they  abuse  not  this  liberty  to  the 
civil  injury  of  others,  and  to  the  actual  disturbance  of  public 
peace  on  their  part ;  provided  this  liberty  be  not  extended  to 
Popery  or  Prelacy,  or  to  such,  under  a  profession  of  Christ,  as 
hold  forth  and  practice  licentiousness."     There  is    a   further 
article  which  declares  that  all  the  penal  laws,  contrary  to  this 
liberty,  shall  be  null  and  void.     Cromwell's  notions  of  tolera- 
tion were  not  so  broad  as  the  Baptists,  nor  were  all  his  officers 
disposed  to  carry  out,  where  they  could  do  it  with  impunity, 
the  strict  letter  of  the  Council's  articles.     Grantham  complains 
that,  "in  the  time  of  Cromwell's  usurpation,  they  did  pull  us 
before  the  judgment  seats,  because  we  could  not  worship  God 
after  the  will  of  the  Lord  Protector,  for  so  they  styled  him  in 
the  articles  against  us ;  and  we  had  then  our  goods  taken  away, 
and  never  restored  to  this  day."     But  these  petty  local  persecu- 
tions were  the  exception,  and  not  the  rule,  and  were  manifestly 
a  violation  of  the  articles  of  the  Council.     On  the  whole,  the 
Commonwealth,  dearly  loved  by  many  Baptists,  was  a  time  of 
comparative  quiet  and  prosperity.     But  dark  and  dismal  days 
were    drawing    near — days  which  Richardson  had   predicted, 
when  those  Baptists,  who  had  once  been  so  ready  to  find  fault 
with  Cromwell,  "  would  weep  for  the  want  of  him." 


94  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


The  Baptists  suffered  immensely  during  the  reign  of 
Charles  the  Second  (1860—1685). 

His  declaration  from  Breda,   "  that  no  man  should  he  dis- 
quieted  or   called   in    question   for    differences    of   opinion   in 
matters    of  religion   which    do  not  disturb    the    peace    of  the 
kingdom," — proved  to  be  worthless.     The  Baptists,  and  indeed 
all  Dissenters,  were  "  scattered  and  peeled."     The  Restoration 
was  scarcely  in  sight,  before  the  Baptists  began  to  have  warning 
of  what  would  speedily  follow.     Several  London  chapels  were 
destroyed  by  Royalist  mobs,  and  their  congregations  dispersed. 
A   very  whirlwind   of    persecution   burst   upon    the  Baptists. 
Vernier's  rebellion  was  made  the  occasion  of  fresh   severities, 
although  the  Baptists  in  London,  speaking  on  behalf  of  their 
brethren  generally,  washed  their  hands  of  all  participation  in  it. 
"  We   should  be  stupid  and   senseless,  if  we    did  not    deeply 
resent  these  black  obloquies  and  reproaches,"  say  they,  "  cast 
upon  those  of  our  profession  and  practice  in  the  point  of  bap- 
tism, by  occasion  of  the  late  most  horrible  treason  and  rebellion 
in  this  City  of  London.  .  .  .  We  protest  that  we  neither  had  the 
least  foreknowledge  of  the  said  late   treasonable  insurrection, 
nor    did   we    any    of  us,    in    any  kind  and    degree  whatever, 
directly  or  indirectly,  contrive,  promote,  assist,  abet  or  approve 
the    same  ;    but    do    esteem    it  our  duty  to   God,   and  to   his 
majesty,  and  to   our  neighbour,  not  only  to  be  obedient,  but 
also   to  use  our  utmost  industry  to  prevent  all  such  treasons, 
murders,   and  rebellions."      They  protest  against   being  con- 
founded with  the  Anabaptists  of  Munster,  because  they  happen 
to  be  known  by  the  same  name.     They  quote  their  own  Con- 
fession  of  Faith   to    show  their  respect  for  magistrates ;  and 
earnestly  plead  that  they  may  be  permitted  "  to  worship  God 
in  peace   and  freedom."     All  was  in  vain.     Blow  after  blow 
was  dealt  upon  them  by  the  unscrupulous  men  who  were  now 
in  power.      Jails   soon  became   choked  with  prisoners,    sixty 
men  often  being  crammed  into  a  room  nine  feet  by  fourteen  ! 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  95 


Some  died  of  the  rough  usage  received  from  the  soldiers  and 
constables  when  seized  at  their  meeting-houses  ;  others  perished 
from  the  foetid  and  poisoned  air  of  their  prisons.  "On  the 
15th  June,  1662,  the  soldiers  came  with  rage  and  fury,  with 
their  swords  drawn,"  to  a  meeting  of  the  Baptists  in  Petty- 
France  and  London.  A  mere  lad  was  cruelly  wounded, — 
"  almost  to  death,  so  that  it  was  doubtful  whether  he  would 
recover."  The  minister  was  carried  off  to  Newgate,  and  there 
remained  a  close  prisoner.  Less  than  a  fortnight  afterwards, 
the  soldiers  again  visited  this  chapel,  with  drawn  swords. 
"  They  wounded  some,  and  struck  others.  They  broke  down 
the  gallery  and  made  great  spoil."  At  a  second  meeting-house 
they  broke  open  the  cupboard,  and  drank  up  the  wine  provided 
for  the  Lord's  Supper.  At  a  third,  finding  the  congregation 
was  dispersed  before  they  arrived,  the  soldiers  egged  on  the 
mob  that  followed  at  their  heels  to  gut  the  chapel.  This  was 
only  a  sample  of  the  usage  the  Baptists  received  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  They  were  robbed  and  insulted  in  the  open 
streets,  were  heavily  fined,  were  pilloried,  were  dragged  by 
soldiers  out  Of  bed  at  night,  were  cast  headlong  down  winding 
stairs.  Everywhere  the  same  coarse  brutality  marked  the 
conduct  of  the  persecutors. 

Often  driven  forth  from  their  humble  meeting-houses,  the 
Baptists  met  wherever  shelter  or  secrecy  could  be  obtained  ;  in 
out-of-the-way  barns,  in  malt-houses,  in  hay-lofts,  in  woods,  in 
sheltered  lanes.  All  manner  of  contrivances  were  adopted  to 
elude  the  infamous  spies,  called  informers,  who  were  now  doing 
a  profitable  trade.  At  Beading  the  Baptists  met  in  a  humble 
house  in  Prince's-lane,  near  a  branch  of  the  river  Kennet.  A 
door  opened  behind  the  house  upon  a  rude  bridge  hastily  thrown 
across  the  stream,  and  over  this  the  preacher  escaped  when  the 
alarm  was  given.  At  Newport  Pagnell  their  meeting-place  was 
a  barn,  from  which  they  could  escape  down  a  back  lane,  when 
the  approach  of  informers  was  signalled.  At  Bendish,  near 
Hitchin,  they  met  in  a  low,  thatched  malt-house.     The  high 


g6  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


pew  in  front  of  the  pulpit  hid  the  ministers  from  the  informers, 
and  gave  them  time  to  flee  out  from  a  door  near  at  hand.  In 
other  places  the  pulpit  communicated  with  the  yard  hehind,  and 
so  permitted  the  preacher  to  get  a  few  minutes'  start  of  his 
pursuers.  At  Wallingford,  however,  Mr.  Stennet  secured  the 
means  of  uninterrupted  worship  for  some  time  by  a  novel  ex- 
pedient. "  He  dwelt  in  the  castle  of  Wallingford,  a  place 
where  no  warrant  could  make  forcible  entrance  but  that  of 
a  Lord  Chief  Justice ;  and  the  house  was  so  situated,  that  the 
assemblies  could  meet,  and  every  part  of  religious  worship  be 
exercised  in  it,  without  any  danger  of  a  legal  conviction,  unless 
informers  were  admitted,  which  care  was  taken  to  prevent ;  so 
that  for  a  long  time  he  kept  a  constant  and  undisturbed  meeting 
in  his  hall."  An  attempt  to  obtain  a  conviction  by  suborned 
witnesses  signally  failed,  through  an  unexpected  chapter  of 
accidents.  The  chief  instigator,  at  the  time  of  the  trial,  was 
chasing  after  a  prodigal  son,  who  had  eloped  from  Oxford  with 
an  actress  ;  the  clergyman,  who  was  to  be  his  right-hand  man, 
died  suddenly ;  and  out  of  the  eight  witnesses,  only  one  could 
be  found  on  the  day  of  the  trial,  and  he  refused  to  appear. 
The  case  was,  therefore,  dismissed. 

Even  bishops  were  not  ashamed  to  play  the  part  of  spies. 
Many  were  contented  to  encourage  the  informers  secretly,  and 
throw  the  odium  on  the  civil  magistrates ;  but  Dr.  Peter  Gun- 
ning, the  Bishop  of  Chichester,  marched  in  person,  at  the  head 
of  a  posse  of  constables,  to  disperse  the  assemblies  of  the 
schismatics.  If  he  found  the  doors  closed,  he  gave  orders  that 
they  should  be  broken  open  with  sledge-hammers.  On  seeing 
this  done,  a  wag  in  the  crowd  once  exclaimed,  "  What !  has 
Peter  lost  his  keys  '?"  The  clergy,  the  magistrates,  the  nobles, 
all  joined  with  the  mob  in  insulting  and  defaming  the  Baptists. 
Informers  were  feed  by  Oxford  Chancellors,  and  protected  by 
justices  of  the  peace.  One  of  these  wretches  first  passed  him- 
self off  as  a  Quaker,  but  letting  fall  over  his  cups,  that  he  was 
an  informer,  he  found  it  prudent  to  escape.     He  next  appears 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  97 

as  a  Baptist ;  and  to  prove  his  contempt  of  infant-baptism, 
he  actually  christened  a  cat  Catherine- Catherina.  Some  simple- 
minded  people  were  gulled  by  this  infamous  creature,  among 
whom  was  Mr.  Headach,  a  man  of  good  repute.  But  for  the 
disclosures  against  the  informer's  character,  made  at  the  very 
time  Mr.  Headach  was  on  his  trial  for  "  treasonable  words  " 
which  this  informer  had  declared  Mr.  Headach  had  spoken, 
Mr.  Headach  would  have  been  heavily  fined,  or  perhaps  have 
lost  his  life.  The  country  people,  not  knowing  this  informer's 
name,  called  him  Trepan.  His  real  name  was  John  Poulter. 
He  was  the  son  of  a  butcher  at  Salisbury.  So  savage  and 
relentless  were  the  informers  in  Devon  also,  that  they  were 
commonly  known,  in  that  county,  as  the  bloodhounds. 

A  story  is  recorded  of  one  good  minister's  out-witting  an  in- 
former. George  Hammon,  a  devoted  and  zealous  General 
Baptist  minister  in  Kent,  whilst  residing  at  Canterbury,  was 
going  to  preach  at  some  distant  place,  and  was  overtaken  by  a 
violent  storm.  As  he  stood  under  a  tree  for  shelter,  a  man 
from  the  house  opposite  called  to  him,  told  him  he  was  an  in- 
former, and  having  heard  there  was  to  be  preaching  in  such  a 
place  that  night,  he  was  going  thither  in  order  to  give  informa- 
tion of  the  persons  assembled.  This  was  the  very  place  where 
Mr.  Hammon  was  himself  appointed  to  preach.  He  instantly 
replied,  "  I  am  a  man-taker  also."  "Are  you?"  said  the 
informer  ;  "  then  let  us  go  together."  When  they  came  to  the 
house,  after  sitting  some  time,  Mr.  Hammon  said  to  the  in- 
former, "  Here  are  the  people !  but  where  is  the  minister  ? 
Unless  there  is  a  minister,  we  cannot  make  a  conventicle  of  it ; 
and,  therefore,  I  propose  that  either  you  or  I  should  preach." 
The  informer,  of  course,  declined.  "  Then,"  said  Hammon, 
11 1  must."  He  discoursed,  with  so  much  energy  and  point,  to 
the  utter  surprise  of  the  informer,  that  from  that  night  the 
informer  gave  up  his  hateful  calling,  and  became  an  altered 
man. 

Every  county  in  England  has  its  own  story  to  tell  of  the 

H 


9S  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


persecutions  of  this  period.  But  one  case  will  illustrate 
a  score.  John  Miller,  of  Minthenton,  Dorset,  had  come  of 
Presbyterian  parents,  but  had  embraced  Baptist  opinions.  He 
gathered  a  church,  and  became  an  active  itinerant  preacher. 
For  ten  years  he  lay  in  prison  for  his  recusancy,  and  hardly 
escaped  a  prcemunire.  At  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
Second,  his  goods  were  seized,  and  he  himself  imprisoned. 
Like  John  Bunyan,  he  was  charged  with  "  devilishly  and  per- 
niciously abstaining  from  coming  to  church  "  for  eleven  months. 
At  the  Assizes  at  Sherbourn  only  one  witness  could  be  found 
against  him,  and  it  was  found  difficult  to  prove  the  charge  until 
a  neighbouring  justice,  one  of  the  King's  poor  knights,  turned 
evidence.  Miller  was  fined  the  full  penalty,  according  to  the 
Conventicle  Act,  of  twenty  pounds  a  month,  that  is, — two  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds.  He  objected  to  the  sentence  as  illegal, 
but  was  told  by  the  judge  that  he  might  seek  his  remedy  else- 
where. As  Mr.  Miller  declined  to  pay  the  fine,  the  sheriff 
seized  all  his  property :  four  hundred  sheep,  twenty  cows, 
seven  horses,  seven  fattening  pigs,  all  the  hay,  corn,  and  wool 
of  last  year's  produce,  and  the  malt  and  hops  reserved  for  the 
family.  For  four  months  the  sheriff's  men  levied  their  exac- 
tions. Mr.  Miller  remained  in  doors,  since  the  prosecutor 
threatened  to  imprison  him  again.  His  eldest  son,  by  merely 
taking  an  inventory  of  what  was  seized,  so  incensed  the  legalised 
plunderers,  that  a  warrant  was  issued  to  apprehend  him,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  fly.  At  length,  two  neighbours,  one  of  them 
a  benevolent  Churchman,  seeing  the  havoc  they  were  making 
of  Mr.  Miller's  property,  paid  the  fine,  and  dismissed  the  sheriff's 
officers.  During  this  period  they  had  wasted  or  seized  goods  to 
the  amount  of  five  hundred  pounds.  Miller,  meanwhile,  ven- 
tured to  London,  and  laid  a  petition  before  the  King,  not  asking 
for  the  restoration  of  what  had  been  destroyed,  but  only  that 
the  little  of  his  corn  that  remained  might  be  spared  for  the 
wants  of  his  wife  and  eight  children,  the  rapacious  bailiffs  re- 
fusing them  provisions  unless  they  paid  for  them.     He  might 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  99 


have  saved  himself  his  journey.  The  debauched  voluptuary 
listened  with  undisguised  indifference  to  the  story  of  his  wrongs, 
and  only  deigned  to  reply — "  I  have  nothing  to  say  to  you.  You 
must  (jo  home,  and  conform !  "  This  was  just  the  last  thing  Mr. 
Miller  would  do.  He  found  there  would  be  no  more  peace  for 
him  in  Dorset ;  he  sold  his  estate,  retired  to  a  lonely  farm  in  a 
region  where  he  was  unknown ;  and  there,  with  straightened 
income,  lived  on  undisturbed  until  some  years  after  the  Revo- 
lution. 

Plots,  false  charges,  forged  letters, — all  manner  of  mean  and 
despotic  devices, — were  vamped  up  to  justify  the  prosecution  of 
Baptists.  Kiffin  suffered  imprisonment  for  the  last ;  John 
James  was  hanged  on  Tyburn  for  the  first.  But  enough.  The 
story  of  the  wrongs  endured  by  the  Baptists,  during  the  days  of 
Charles  the  Second,  remains  yet  to  be  written.  The  Lincoln- 
shire General  Baptists  complained  to  the  King,  at  the  very 
commencement  of  his  reign :  "  We  are  abused  as  we  pass 
along  the  streets,  and  as  we  sit  in  our  houses.  We  are 
threatened  to  be  hanged  if  heard  praying  to  the  Lord  in  our 
families,  and  disturbed  in  our  so  waiting  upon  God  by  an  un- 
civil beating  at  our  doors,  and  sounding  of  horns  ;  yea,  we 
have  been  stoned  when  going  to  our  meetings,  the  windows  of 
the  places  where  we  have  met  struck  down  with  stones ;  yea, 
also  taken  as  evil-doers,  and  imprisoned  when  peaceably  met 
to  worship  the  Most  High  in  the  use  of  His  precious  ordinances." 
These  proved  only  the  beginning  of  sorrows,  not  in  Lincoln 
alone,  but  in  every  part  of  the  island. 

James  the  Second  (1685—1688). 

For  the  first  few  months  after  the  King  ascended  the  throne, 
persecution  still  darkened  the  land.  Justices  and  clergy  were 
as  busy  as  ever  ;  Spiritual  Courts  continued  their  mockery  ; 
bishops  were  persistent  in  their  "injunctions"  to  their  clergy 
and  churchwardens  to  look  up  absentees  from  the  parish 
churches ;    and   the    King   wTas   taking   hasty   strides   toward 

h2 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


absolute  power.  All  the  judges  but  one  gave  it  as  their 
opinion — "  (1)  That  the  laws  of  England  were  the  lung's  laws  ; 
(2)  that  it  was  an  inseparable  branch  of  the  prerogative  of  the 
Kings  of  England,  as  of  other  sovereigns,  to  dispense  all  the 
penal  laws  on  particular  occasions ;  (3)  that  of  these  reasons 
and  cases  the  King  is  the  sole  judge  ;  and  (4)  that  this  is  not  a 
trust  now  invested  in  and  granted  to  the  present  King,  but  the 
ancient  remains  of  the  sovereign  power  of  the  Kings  of  England, 
which  was  never  yet  taken  from  them,  nor  can  be  !  "  Thus  the 
whole  body  of  laws  in  England  was  at  once  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  lung. 

A  little  before  this  time,  the  meeting-place  of  the  Baptist 
church  at  Luppit,  Devon,  was  discovered,  and  the  congregation 
scattered.  Presently  afterward  they  met  again  at  a  farm-house 
in  a  wood,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Upottery,  where  the 
chapel  is  now  situated.  Again  they  were  surprised.  Some  were 
apprehended,  and  transported  to  Jamaica  for  seven  years,  and 
the  rest  escaped.  On  the  sudden  favour  shown  by  King  James 
to  Nonconformists,  the  remnant  re-assembled,  and  resolved  to 
build  a  place  of  worship.  Half  a  century  ago  there  still 
existed,  behind  the  farm-house,  the  dam  in  which  the  midnight 
baptisms  were  administered. 

One  singular  instance  of  the  licences  or  Dispensations  now 
granted  to  Dissenters,  is  worth  repeating,  with  the  licence 
itself.  The  Baptists  at  Abingdon,  near  Oxford,  had  been  so 
harassed  by  informers,  and  mulcted  in  fines  by  justices,  and 
persecuted  in  other  ways,  that  they  were  compelled  to  close 
their  chapel.  The  pastor  at  this  time  was  Henry  Forty.  He 
and  seven  others  were  indicted  at  the  assizes  for  absenting 
themselves  from  church,  while  others  of  their  number  were 
cited  to  appear  in  the  Spiritual  Courts  for  not  receiving  the 
Sacrament  at  Easter.  Their  trial  came  on  in  July,  1686,  before 
Mr.  Justice  Holloway,  and  Mr.  Justice  Luwick.  The  Recorder, 
Mr.  Finmore,  greatly  exaggerated  their  oflences,  and  their 
enemies  felt  certain  of  convicting  them.    They  had,  themselves, 


DYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


looked  for  no  mercy ;  and  in  telling  Mr.  Medlecot  their  case, 
suggested  that  he  should  obtain  them  a  Dispensation  from  the 
King.  Two  Justices  of  the  Peace  signed  their  appeal,  and  the 
Dispensation  was  obtained.  When  Mr.  Medlecot  stood  up  in 
the  Assize  Court  on  their  behalf,  he  was  asked  the  formal 
question,  "  Are  you  retained  for  these  people  ?  "  "  Yes,"  said 
Mr.  Medlecot.  Judge  Holloway  being  on  the  bench,  answered, 
"  We  thought  so,"  greeting  him  at  the  same  time  with  a 
malicious  scowl.  Mr.  Medlecot  replied,  "Your  lordship  has 
served  them  more  effectually  than  I."  At  this,  Judge  Holloway 
was  greatly  indignant.  Still  the  attorney  went  on, — "  And  they 
give  you  the  greater  thanks;  for  your  lordship,  and  my  lords 
the  judges,  have  declared  his  Majesty  a  sovereign  prince;  that 
the  laws  are  his  laws  ;  that  he  might  dispense  with  them  when 
necessary  ;  that  he  was  judge  of  that  necessity ;  and  he  has 
thought  it  necessary  in  the  case  of  these  defendants."  Mr. 
Medlecot  then  produced  in  Court  the  patent  under  the  broad 
seal.  The  effect  was  electrical.  Most  of  those  present  were 
filled  with  consternation.  Their  colour  came  and  went ;  they 
hung  down  their  heads  in  shame  and  vexation.  There  was, 
however,  but  one  course  open  to  the  judges — they  discharged 
the  prisoners.  This  was  on  Saturday,  July  10, 1686.  The  very 
same  evening  the  old  meeting-house  was  cleaned  and  prepared 
for  worship  ;  and  the  following  day,  both  morning  and  evening, 
hundreds  assembled  in  it  quietly,  and  without  molestation. 

The  patent,  or  Dispensation,  which  extended  to  twenty-five 
persons  and  their  families,  cost  some  six-and-twenty  pounds. 
It  ran  as  follows  : — 

"  We,  whose  names  are  hereunto  subscribed,  do  certify  that 
Henry  Forty,  &c,  &c,  &c,  to  the  best  of  our  knowledge  have 
demeaned  and  behaved  themselves  peaceably  and  quietly 
towards  his  late  majesty,  Charles  the  Second,  and  his  present 
majesty,  King  James,  and  their  governments. 

"  Given  under  our  hands  and  seals  this  —  day  of  July, 
1686,  by  two  justices  of  the  peace  in  the  County  of  Berks. 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


"  Granted  thereupon. 

"James  I.  Rex:  Whereas,  our  most  dear  brother,  the  late 
King  deceased,  had  signified  his  intention  to  his  Attorney- 
General  for  the  pardoning  such  of  his  subjects  who  had  been 
sufferers  in  the  late  times  of  usurpation  and  rebellion  for  their 
royalty ;  and  whose  parents  and  relatives  had  been  sufferers  for 
the  same  cause,  or  who  had  themselves  testified  their  loyalty 
and  affection  for  the  government ;  and  were  presented,  indicted, 
and  convicted,  for  not  taking,  or  refusing  to  take,  the  oath  of 
allegiance  or  supremacy,  or  one  of  them  ;  or  had  been  prose- 
cuted by  the  Prerogative  Writ,  called  the  Long  Writ  of  the 
Exchequer,  for  the  penalty  of  twenty  pounds  per  metwem ;  or 
upon  outlawries  or  writs,  de  Excom.  cap.,  or  other  processes  of 
the  causes  aforesaid  ;  or  for  not  coming  to  church  ;  or  receiving 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  according  to  the  usage  of 
the  Church  of  England,  or  by  reason  of  their  convictions  of 
recusancy  or  exercise  of  their  religion  ;  or  who  were  otherwise 
prosecuted  as  recusants,  or  imprisoned  for  any  of  the  crimes 
aforesaid  ;  and  for  the  doing  thereof  our  said  brother  in  divers 
counties  had  given  orders.  Now,  in  pursuance  of  these  gracious 
intentions  of  our  said  most  dear  brother,  and  for  that  the  per- 
sons hereunto  annexed  have  produced  unto  us,  certificates  of 
their  services  and  sufferings  of  themselves,  their  parents,  and 
nearest  relations ;  our  will  and  pleasure  therefore  is,  that  the 
persons  mentioned  in  the  said  schedule,  their  wives,  and  fami- 
lies, and  servants,  shall  not  in  any  sort  be  prosecuted  or 
molested  for  any  of  the  causes  above-mentioned.  Wherefore  we 
recommend  and  direct  you,  every  one  of  you  in  your  respective 
places,  to  forbear  all  prosecution  against  the  said  persons,  their 
wives,  families,  and  servants,  and  every  of  them  ;  and  that  you 
cause  all  processes  and  proceedings  whatsoever  so  commenced 
and  issued,  or  to  be  commenced  and  issued,  against  such 
persons,  their  wives,  families,  and  servants,  and  every  of  them, 
for  the  causes  aforesaid,  to  be  wholly  superseded,  discharged, 
and  stayed ;   and  they  and  every  one  of  them  absolutely  dis- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  103 

charged  and  set  at  liberty  until  our  royal  will  and  pleasure 
be  further  known  and  signified  unto  you  respectively.  And  for 
doing  these,  and  for  the  entry  and  enrolment  thereof  with  you 
respectively,  shall  be  unto  you  and  every  one  of  you  respec- 
tively a  sufficient  warrant. 

"  Given  at  our  Court  at  Windsor,  the  7th  July,  in  the  second 

year  of  our  reign,  1686. 

" SUNDERLAND, 

"By  his  Majesty's  command. 

"  To  all  archbishops  and  bishops,  their  chancellors  and  com- 
missaries ;  and  to  all  archdeacons  and  their  officials,  and  all 
others  exercising  any  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  ;  and  to  our 
judges,  and  justices  of  assize,  of  gaol  delivery,  justices  of  the 
peace,  sheriffs,  mayors,  bailiffs,  and  all  other  persons  whom  it 
may  in  any  wise  concern." 

The  persecutions  against  Dissenters  still  went  on,  and  many 
were  driven  from  the  country.  Meanwhile  the  King  continued 
to  grant  his  Dispensations.  In  April,  1687,  the  King  published 
a  Declaration  of  Toleration,  and  protested  that  it  was  in  his 
heart  to  have  done  it  sooner  if  he  had  not  been  restrained  by 
the  bishops.  Fulsome  addresses  now  went  up  to  the  King. 
The  long  hidden  Baptists  crept  out  of  their  hiding-places,  and 
once  more  assembled  in  their  chapels  as  of  yore.  The  King 
further  sought  to  gain  favour  with  Dissenters,  and  offered  to 
make  Kiffin  an  alderman ;  with  what  result  we  are  all  familiar. 
Not  long  after  these  transactions  James  fled  to  France,  and  in 
his  flight  threw  the  great  seal  into  the  Thames.  A  brighter  era 
was  approaching — the  era  which  will  ever  be  memorable  to 
English  Dissenters.  William  of  Orange  landed  in  Torbay  in 
1688,  and  in  the  following  year  the  Toleration  Act  was  passed, 
which  secured  to  all  Dissenters  the  right  of  unmolested  public 
worship. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
BAPTIST  CONFESSIONS  OF  FAITH. 

THE  Confessions  published  by  the  Baptists  in  the  Seven- 
teenth Century  were  neither  creeds  written  to  secure 
uniformity  of  belief,  nor  articles  to  which  subscription  was 
demanded.  They  were  rather  expositions  of  their  opinions, 
issued  in  this  particular  form,  as  being  most  convenient.  They 
were  defences,  or  Apologies  (in  the  original  sense  of  that  term), 
wrung  from  them  by  the  shameless  calumnies  and  bitter  mis- 
representations of  their  enemies. 

The  rapid  growth  of  Baptists  in  the  early  part  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Century  aroused  against  them  a  host  of  adversaries. 
Every  weapon — slander,  perversion,  abuse,  no  matter  what — 
all  was  considered  fair  in  their  warfare.  Xo  heresy  was  too 
gross,  no  practice  too  abominable,  for  the  Baptists ;  at  least  so 
affirmed  a  hundred  voices.  "  I  expect  some  of  them  will  say, 
with  John  of  Ley  den,"  says  one  of  their  adversaries,  "  that  if 
the  Word  of  God  were  lost,  they  might  soon  supply  another. .  .  . 
That  the  regenerated  man  cannot  sin  is  the  very  doctrine  of  the 
Anabaptists  ;  to  take  the  communion  where  there  is  a  profane 
person,  is  to  take  it  with  his  profaneness;  that  the  Lord'^ 
Prayer  was  never  taught  to  be  said,  &c. ;  that  a  liberty  of  pro- 
phesying must  be  allowed  ;  that  distinctions  of  parishes  is  anti- 
Christian  :  that  ministers  of  God's  "Word  should  rule  both  the 
spiritual    and   the    temporal ;    that    all   human   laws    must    be 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  105 

abolished,  and  all  policies  of  states  must  be  taken  out  of  God's 
word  only  : — all  these  are  scions  of  that  stock  of  Anabaptism 
that  was  transplanted  out  of  Holland  in  the  year  1535,  when 
two  ships  laden  with  Anabaptists  fled  into  England,  after  they 
had  missed  the  enterprise  at  Amsterdam. 

"  To  these  doctrines  you  must  add  their  practices.  The 
seditious  pamphlets ;  the  tumultuous  rising  of  rude  multitudes, 
threatening  blood  and  destruction;  the  preaching  of  the  cob- 
blers, felt-makers,  grooms,  and  women;  the  choosing  of  any 
place  for  God's  service  but  the  church ;  the  night  meetings  of 
naked  men  and  women  ;  the  licentiousness  of  spiritual  marriages 
without  any  legal  form  :  these  things,  if  they  be  not  looked 
into,  will  bring  us  in  time  to  community  of  wives,  community 
of  goods,  and  destruction  of  all." 

Another  writer  declares  that  "  in  one  Anabaptist  you  have 
many  heretics ;  and  in  this  one  sect,  as  it  were  one  stock,  many 
erroneous  and  schismatical  positions  and  practices  engrafted  and, 
as  it  were,  inoculated.  .  .  .  The}'  preach,  and  print,  and  practice 
their  heretical  impieties  openly.  They  hold  their  conventicles 
weekly  in  our  chief  cities,  and  suburbs  thereof,  and  there 
prophesy  by  turns.  .  .  .  They  flock  in  great  multitudes  to  their 
Jordans,  and  both  sexes  enter  the  river,  and  are  dipt  after  their 
manner  with  a  kind  of  spell,  concerning  their  tenets.  .  .  .  They 
print  not  only  Anabaptism,  from  whence  they  take  their  name, 
but  many  other  most  damnable  doctrines,  tending  to  carnal 
liberty,  familism,  and  a  medley  and  hodge-podge  of  all  religions. 
...  If  this  sect  prevail,  we  shall  have  no  monarchy  in  the  State, 
nor  hierarchy  in  the  Church,  but  anarchy  in  both.  .  .  .  Solinas 
writeth,  that  in  Sardinia  whence  there  is  a  venomous  serpent 
called  Solifuga  (whose  biting  is  present  death),  there  is  also 
at  hand  a  fountain,  in  which,  who  washes  themselves  after  they 
are  bit,  are  presently  cured.  This  venomous  serpent,  flying 
from  and  shunning  the  light  of  God's  Word,  is  the  Anabaptist, 
who  in  these  later  times  first  showed  his  shining  head  and 
speckled  skin,  and  thrust  out  his  sting  near  the  place  of  my 


io6  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


residence  for  more  than  twenty  years."  They  are  "  adders, 
and  efts,  breed  in  old  broken  walls."  They  are  "  illiterate," 
"sottish,"  "lying,"  "  blasphemous,"  "impure,"  "carnal," 
"  cruel,"  "  bloody,"  "  profane,"  "  sacrilegious."  So  wrote  Dr. 
Featley,  of  Southwark.  But  if  Featley  is  virulent,  and  Edwards 
savage  and  unscrupulous,  Baillie  is  little  better  than  either. 
"  The  spirit  of  the  Anabaptists  is  clearly  devilish,"  says  Baillie; 
"every  Anabaptist  is  a  rigid  Separatist;  will  put  all  Church 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  people  ;  will  permit  any  gifted  man 
to  preach,  but  not  in  a  steeple-house  ;  tithes  are  unlawful ;  their 
preachers  work  with  their  own  hands,  and  do  not  go  in  black 
clothes  ;  they  celebrate  the  Lord's  Supper  in  inns ;  they  deny 
all  power  to  the  magistrates  in  anything  that  concerns  religion  ;" 
and,  most  grievous  sin  of  all,  in  the  estimation  of  a  North 
Briton — "  they  are  injurious  to  the  Scots." 

When  such  were  the  gross  calumnies  and  silly  nonsense 
mixed  up  and  offered  to  men  as  "  Baptist  opinions  and  Baptist 
practices,"  it  was  surely  needful  that  Baptists  themselves  should 
make  their  own  declaration. 

Smyth's  Confession 
is,  perhaps,  the  first  Baptist  creed,  or  Apology,  of  modern  times. 
Dr.  Evans  has  given  the  whole  of  the  articles,  one  hundred  and 
two  in  number,  in  the  Appendix  to  his  first  volume  on  Early 
English  Bajitists.  It  is  a  translation  from  a  Dutch  copy,  pre- 
served in  the  archives  of  the  church  at  Amsterdam,  and  was 
evidently  written  to  confute  the  opinions  ascribed  to  Smyth  and 
his  party  by  Robinson  and  the  Brownists  of  Amsterdam.  It 
was  first  published  in  1611. 

In  this  Confession,  after  stating  that  there  is  a  God,  "one 
in  number,"  "incomprehensible  and  inexpressible,"  whose 
"  essence"  is  not  explained  in  the  Scriptures,  but  only  "His 
working  and  attributes,"  the  terms  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost,  declaring  to  us  what  we  can  know  of  Him,  Smyth  says, 
(Article  7) :    "To  understand  and  conceive  God  in  the  mind,  or 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  107 


in  the  understanding,  is  not  the  saving  knowledge  of  God  ;  but 
to  be  like  God  in  His  effects  and  properties  ;  to  be  made  con- 
formable to  His  divine  and  heavenly  attributes."  God,  also, 
'•'  foresaw  and  determined  the  issue  and  event  of  His  works  .  .  . ;" 
and  it  is  therefore  "  an  abomination"  to  speak  of  "  all  things 
happening  by  luck  and  fortune."  Yet  "  God  is  not  the  author 
and  worker  of  sin  and  wickedness  ;  that  He  only  has  foreseen 
and  determined  what  evil  the  free-will  of  angels  and  men  would 
do ;  yet  He  gave  no  influence,  instinct,  motion,  or  inclination  to 
the  least  sin."  "  God  created  man  with  a  free  will,  having  the 
faculty  to  choose  what  is  good,  and  to  avoid  what  is  evil ;  or  to 
choose  evil,  and  avoid  what  is  good ;  and  that  this  will  was 
a  natural  power  and  property,  created  by  God  in  the  soul  of 
man."  The  fall  of  Adam  did  not  destroy  "  any  natural  power  or 
faculty;"  "  and  therefore,  being  fallen,  he  still  retained  freedom 
of  will."  Smyth  objects  to  the  use  of  the  term  "  original  sin" 
as  unscriptural;"  nor  "is  there  such  a  thing  as  men  intended 
by  the  word  (Jer.  xviii.  8) ;  because  as  God  threatened  death 
only  to  Adam,  not  to  his  posterity  for  their  sins,  and  because 
God  over-rates  the  soul."  Even  "  if  original  sin"  might  have 
passed  from  Adam  to  his  posterity,  "  yet  is  the  issue  thereof 
stayed  by  the  death  of  Christ,  which  was  effectual,  before 
Cain  and  Abel's  birth,  as  Christ  is  the  Lamb  slain  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world  (Rom.  xiii.  8)."  "  Infants,"  says  the 
twentieth  article,  "  are  conceived  and  born  in  innocency,  with- 
out sin,  and  that  they  dying,  therefore,  are  all  undoubtedly 
saved ;  which  is  to  be  understood  of  all  infants  who  live  in  the 
world  ;  for  the  sin  is  not  imputed  ;  because  where  there  is  no 
law,  there  is  no  transgression.  Now  the  law  was  not  given  to 
infants,  but  to  them  that  could  understand." 

The  distinctive  sentiments  of  the  early  General  Baptists  are 
thus  affirmed  in  articles  twenty-two  to  twenty-six: — "Adam, 
being  fallen,  God  did  not  hate  him,  but  loved  him  still,  and 
sought  his  welfare  with  all  his  heart ;  neither  doth  He  hate  any 
man  that  falleth  with  Adam  ;  but  He  loves  mankind,  and  from 


108  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

His  love,  sent  His  only-begotten  Son  to  save  that  which  was 
lost,  and  to  find  that  which  was  gone  astray."  "  That  God 
never  forsaketh  a  man  till  there  be  no  remedy ;  neither  doth 
He  cast  away  His  innocent  creature  from  all  eternity,  but 
casteth  away  irrecoverably  in  sin  [literally,  '  who  will  not  be 
aided'];"  "but  as  there  is  in  all  creatures  an  inclination  to 
their  young,  to  do  them  good,  so  is  in  the  Lord  an  inclination 
towards  men  to  promote  their  welfare ;  for  each  spark  of  god- 
liness that  is  in  the  creatures,  is  also  infinitely  in  God;"  "that 
God  has  determined,  before  the  foundation  of  the  world,  that 
the  way  of  life  and  salvation  should  be  by  Christ ;  and  that  He 
has  foreseen  who  would  follow  it,  and  also  who  would  follow 
the  way  of  infidelity  and  impenitency ; "  "that  no  more  than 
a  father  begets  his  child  to  the  gallows,  and  a  potter  forms  a 
pot  to  be  broken,  so  God  predestinates  and  creates  nobody  to 
damnation  (Ezek.  xxxiii.  11 ;  Gen.  i.  17 ;  1  Cor.  xv.  49 ;  Gen. 
v.  8);"  "that  the  sacrifice,"  says  the  thirty-third  article,  "of 
Christ's  body  and  blood,  offered  unto  God  His  Father,  upon 
the  cross,  though  a  sacrifice  of  a  sweet  smell,  and  though  God 
be  well  pleased  with  Him,  doth  not  reconcile  God  to  us,  who 
did  never  hate  us,  nor  was  our  enemy :  but  reconcileth  us  to  God, 
and  slayeth  the  enmity  and  hatred  which  is  in  us  against  God." 
It  will  be  seen,  from  the  sixty-third  and  sixty-fourth  articles, 
how  easily  men  might  run  away  with  the  notion,  who  only 
heard  half  Smyth's  and  the  other  Anabaptist's  statements, 
"  That  if  the  Word  were  lost,  they  could  soon  supply  men  with 
another."  Smyth  says,  "That  the  new  creature  which  is  born 
of  God,  needs  not  the  outward  Scripture,  creature,  or  ordinances 
of  the  external  churches,  so  that  it  might  bear  itself  on  it  for 
support ;  because  it  hath  three  witnesses  in  itself,  the  Father, 
the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  are  better  than  all 
Scripture,  creatures,  ordinances,  whatever  they  may  be;" 
"  that  even  as  He  who  was  above  the  law,  nevertheless  is 
made  under  the  law  for  our  sakes,  so  the  regenerated  can  and 
will  not  do  other  thing,  from  love  toward  their  " — ["  Master," 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  109 

we  suppose,  although  there  is  here  an  obscure  and  unrendered 
part  of  the  MS.] — "than  to  employ  the  external  things  that 
therewith  they  may  come  to  aid  and  support  of  men ;  that, 
therefore,  the  visible  Church  and  ordinances  are  at  all  times 
necessary  for  all  men,  xchatever  they  he."  But  surely  this  is  a 
very  different  statement  from  John  of  Leyden's ;  and  nothing 
but  a  determination  to  caricature  the  words  of  an  opponent  can 
ever  make  them  teach  his  doctrine. 

The  broad  catholicity  of  Smyth  startled  the  narrow  souls  of 
many  good  men,  who  yet  believed  the  Scriptures.  "All  re- 
penting and  believing  Christians  are,"  says  the  seventy-second 
article,  "  brethren  in  the  communion  of  the  outward  visible 
Church,  wherever  they  may  live,  or  by  what  name  they  may 
be  named,  be  they  Roman  Catholics,  Lutherans,  Zwinglians, 
Calvinists,  Brownists,  Anabaptists,  or  any  other  pious  Chris- 
tians, who  in  truth,  and  by  godly  zeal,  strive  for  repentance  and 
faith,  although  they  are  implicated  in  great  ignorance  and 
weakness.  Nevertheless,  we  greet  them  altogether  with  a  holy 
kiss,  deploring  with  our  whole  heart  that  we,  who  strive  for 
one  faith,  one  Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  God,  one  body,  one 
baptism,  should  be  so  divided  and  severed  into  so  many  sects 
and  splittings,  and  that  for  so  less  considerable  reason." 

In  answer  to  the  charge  that  Anabaptists  deny  all  magis- 
trates, Smyth  writes  (Article  85) :  "  that  the  office  of  the 
magistrate  is  a  permissive  ordinance  of  God  (Rom.  xiii.  1),  or 
an  ordinance  of  man  (1  Pet.  ii.  13 ;  1  Sam.  viii.  5,  22),  which 
God  has  permitted,  that  one  might  not  devour  the  other,  as  the 
wild  beasts ;  so  that  honesty,  decency,  sobriety  amongst  men 
might  be  maintained,  and  that  the  magistrate  thereby  may 
please  God  in  his  vocation,  doing  what  is  right  and  just  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,  in  order  that  they  may  obtain  a  temporal 
blessing  from  God  for  themselves,  their  families,  and  their 
subjects."  The  next  article  is  the  one  previously  quoted, 
wherein  magistrates  are  taught  "  not  to  meddle  with  religion 
and  matters  of  conscience."     Smyth   still   regarded  the    dif- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


ferences  between  members  of  the  visible  Church  as  matters  to 
be  settled  between  themselves,  since  "Christ's  disciples,"  on 
such  differences,  "  may  not  go  to  law  before  magistrates;  and 
all  their  differences  must  be  decided  by  yea  and  nay,  peacefully, 
without  using  an  oath."' 

The  maintenance  of  the  poor  is  taught  in  the  ninety-second 
article:  ''That  in  the  necessity  of  the  Church  and  the  poor 
brethren,  all  things  ought  to  be  common  ;  nay,  one  church 
ought  to  assist  another  in  its  wants."' 

It  is  needless  to  quote  Smyth's  declaration  concerning 
marriage,  since  it  is  expressed  in  the  words  of  Scripture 
(Heb.  xiii.  4  ;  1  Cor.  vii.  2)  ;  M  but,"  says  Smyth,  in  another 
article  towards  the  end  of  his  long  confession,  M  Christ's  dis- 
ciples, the  members  of  the  visible  Church,  ought  not  to  mam- 
wicked  and  impious  people  of  the  world ;  but  every  one  must 
marry  in  the  Lord  (1  Cor.  vii.  39,  40)  ;  that  is,  every  man 
only  one  wife,  and  every  woman  only  one  man  (1  Cor.  vii.  2  : 
Acts  xiii.)." 

Professor  Miiller,  who  kindly  translated  this  confession  for 
Dr.  Evans,  says  : — M  I  have  made  the  translations  as  faithful  as 
possible,  and  as  literal,  as  far  as  it  could  be  done.  The  incor- 
rectness of  the  style  and  the  writing  have  caused  much 
obscurity  in  many  parts.  I  have  occasionally  altered  a  word, 
and  in  some  instances  transposed  one,  to  make  the  meaning 
plainer.  In  no  case  is  the  sense  altered.  I  have  carefully 
avoided  that.  I  wish  I  could  have  removed  all  obscurity 
from  some  of  the  articles  :  but  that  I  found  all  but  impossible." 
Enough,  however,  of  clearness  is  to  be  found  in  all  those 
articles  which  give  this  Coi{Us*ion  its  distinctive  value ;  and 
both  Professor  ITiiller  and  Dr.  Evans  deserve  well  of  the 
Baptists  for  having  snatched  this  precious  fragment  from 
oblivion. 

The   London   Confession. 
The  next  "Confession   of  Faith*'  was    published  in  1644, 
and  was  reprinted  in    1G4G.     It  is  that  which  Luke  Howard 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


describes  as  well  known  under  the  title  of  The  Faith  of  the 
Seven  Churches.  As  these  churches  were  all  situated  in  the 
metropolis,  the  best  title  for  it  is  The  London  Confession. 

Like  Smyth's,  the  publication  of  this  was  mainly  due  to  the 
misrepresentations  of  their  enemies.  From  the  pulpit,  and 
from  the  press,  nothing  but  opprobrious  terms  were  hurled 
against  the  Baptists.  In  order,  therefore,  to  clear  themselves 
from  the  unjust  aspersions  of  their  foes,  they  determined  upon 
the  publication  of  this  Confession.  It  consists  of  fifty-two 
articles,  and  is  strictly  Calvinistic.  The  churches  subscribing 
to  this  Confession  were  Devonshire  Square  ;  Broad  Street, 
Wapping  ;  Great  St.  Helen's  ;  Crutched  Friars  ;  Bishopsgate 
Street;  Coleman  Street;  and  Glazier's  Hall.  The  original  title 
was  as  follows  :  "  A  Confession  of  Faith  of  seven  congregations, 
or  Churches  of  Christ  in  London,  which  are  commonly,  but 
unjustly  called,  Anabaptists;  published  for  the  vindication  of 
the  truth,  and  information  of  the  ignorant,  likewise  for  the 
taking  off  those  aspersions,  which  are  frequently,  both  in  pulpit 
and  in  print,  unjustly  cast  upon  them.  Printed  at  London, 
anno  1646."  The  Confession  is  signed,  among  others,  by  John 
Spilsbury,  Samuel  Richardson,  William  Kiffin,  Thomas  Patient, 
and  Hanserd  Knollys. 

After  acknowledging  that  there  is  one  God,  whose  subsis- 
tence is  in  Himself,  whose  essence  cannot  be  comprehended  by 
any  but  Himself,  "  and  that  in  this  divine  and  infinite  being 
there  is  the  Father,  the  Word,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  each 
having  the  whole  Divine  essence,  yet  the  essence  undivided," 
the  third  article  runs  as  follows  : — 

"  God  hath  decreed  in  Himself,  before  the  world  was,  con- 
cerning all  things,  whether  necessary,  accidental,  or  voluntary, 
with  the  circumstances  of  them,  to  work,  dispose,  and  bring 
about  all  things  according  to  the  counsel  of  His  own  will,  to 
His  glory  (yet  without  being  the  author  of  sin,  or  having 
fellowship  with  any  therein),  in  which  appears  His  wisdom  in 
disposing  all  things,  unchangeableness,  power,  and  faithfulness 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


in  accomplishing  His  decree :  and  God  hath  before  the  foun- 
dation of  the  world,  foreordained  some  men  to  eternal  life, 
through  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  praise  and  glory  of  His  grace, 
leaving  the  rest  in  their  sin  to  their  just  condemnation,  to  the 
praise  of  His  justice."  The  sixth  article  further  states,  that 
"  the  elect,  being  loved  of  God  with  an  everlasting  love,  are 
redeemed,  quickened,  and  saved,  not  by  themselves,  nor  their 
own  works,  lest  any  man  should  boast,  but  only  and  wholly  by 
God,  of  His  free  grace  and  mercy,  through  Jesus  Christ,  who 
is  made  unto  us  by  God,  wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification, 
and  redemption,  and  all  in  all,  that  he  that  rejoiceth  may 
rejoice  in  the  Lord."  Again,  in  the  twenty-first  article,  we 
read,  — "  Jesus  Christ,  by  His  death,  did  purchase  salva- 
tion for  the  elect  that  God  gave  unto  Him ;  these  only 
have  interest  in  Him,  and  fellowship  with  Him,  for  whom 
He  makes  intercession  with  His  Father  in  their  behalf;  and 
to  them  alone  doth  God  by  His  Spirit  apply  this  redemption ; 
as  also  the  free  gift  of  eternal  life  is  given  unto  them,  and 
none  else." 

Notwithstanding  this,  "  the  preaching  of  the  Gospel,"  says 
article  twenty-five,  "to  the  conversion  of  sinners,  is  absolutely 
free,  no  way  requiring  as  absolutely  necessary,  any  qualifica- 
tions, preparations,  or  terrors  of  the  law,  or  preceding 
ministry  of  the  law,  but  only  and  alone  the  naked  soul,  a 
sinner  and  the  ungodly,  to  receive  Christ  crucified,  dead,  and 
buried,  and  raised  again ;  who  is  made  a  prince  and  a  Saviour 
for  such  sinners  as  through  the  Gospel  shall  be  brought  to 
believe  in  Him." 

The  thirty- sixth  and  two  following  articles  point  out  that 
each  church  has  power  given  it  by  Christ  to  choose  among 
themselves  "  meet  persons,"  for  elders  and  deacons;  that  such 
ought  to  continue  in  their  calling  and  place,  according  to  God's 
ordinance,  to  feed  the  flock ;  and  while  they  are  not  to  do  this 
for  filthy  lucre,  is  yet  the  duty  of  every  church,  "  to  supply 
freely"  to  them,  "whatsoever  they  shall  need,  according   to 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  113 

Christ's  ordinance,  that  they  that  preach  the  Gospel  should  live 
of  the  Gospel." 

After  describing  the  mode  of  baptism  as  being  by  "  dipping 
or  plunging  the  body  under  water,"  the  person  designed  by 
Christ  "  to  dispense  baptism,"  we  are  told,  "the  Scrip ture  holds 
forth  to  be  a  disciple ;  it  being  nowhere  tied  to  a  particular 
Church  officer,  or  person  extraordinarily  sent." 

The  germ  of  Baptist  Associations  is  found  in  the  forty-seventh 
article : — "  Although  the  particular  congregations  be  distinct, 
and  several  bodies,  every  one  as  a  compact  and  knit  city  within 
itself ;  yet  they  are  all  to  walk  by  one  rule  of  truth ;  so  also 
are  they,  (by  all  means  convenient),  to  have  the  counsel  and 
help  one  of  another,  if  necessity  require  it,  as  members  of  one 
body,  in  the  common  faith,  under  Christ  their  head." 

Four  articles  touch  on  magistrates,  and  are  as  follows : — 
"Article  48. — A  civil  magistracy  is  an  ordinance  of  God,  set 
up  by  Him  for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the  praise  of 
them  that  do  well ;  and  that  in  all  lawful  things  commanded  by 
them,  subjection  ought  to  be  given  by  us  in  the  Lord,  not  only 
for  wrath,  but  for  conscience'  sake  ;  and  that  we  are  to  make 
supplications  and  prayers  for  kings,  and  all  that  are  in  autho- 
rity, that  under  them  we  may  live  a  quiet  and  peaceable  life,  in 
godliness  and  all  honesty." 

To  this  article  there  is  appended  the  following  note : — 
"  The  supreme  magistracy  of  this  kingdom  we  acknowledge 
to  be  the  King  and  Parliament  (now  established)  freely 
chosen  by  this  kingdom ;  and  that  we  are  to  maintain  and 
defend  all  civil  laws  and  civil  officers  made  by  them,  which 
are  for  the  good  of  the  Commonwealth.  And  we  acknowledge 
with  thankfulness  that  God  hath  made  this  present  King 
and  Parliament  honourable,  in  throwing  down  the  prelatical 
hierarchy,  because  of  their  tyranny  and  oppression  over  us, 
under  which  this  kingdom  long  groaned,  for  which  we  are  ever 
engaged  to  bless  God  and  honour  them  for  the  same.  And 
concerning  the  worship  of  God,  there  is   but   one  Lawgiver 


ii4  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


which  is  able  to  save  and  destroy  (James  iv.  12),  which  is  Jesus 
Christ,  who  hath  given  laws  and  rules  sufficient  in  His  Word  for 
His  worship ;  and  for  any  to  make  more,  were  to  charge  Christ 
with  want  of  wisdom,  or  faithfulness,  or  both,  in  not  making 
laws  enough,  or  not  good  enough  for  His  house.  Surely  it  is 
our  wisdom,  duty,  and  privilege,  to  observe  Christ's  laws  only 
(Ps.  ii.  G,  9,  10,  12).  So  it  is  the  magistrate's  duty  to  tender  the 
liberty  of  men's  consciences  (Ecc.  viii.  8),  (which  is  the  tendered 
thing  unto  all  conscientious  men,  and  most  dear  unto  them,  and 
without  which  all  other  liberties  itill  not  be  worth  the  naming, 
much  less  enjoying),  and  to  protect  all  under  them  from  all 
wrong,  injury,  oppression,  and  molestation ;  so  it  is  our  duty 
not  to  be  wanting  in  nothing  which  is  for  their  honour  and 
comfort,  and  whatsoever  is  for  the  well-being  of  the  common- 
wealth under  which  we  live  ;  it  is  our  duty  to  do,  and  we 
believe  it  to  be  our  express  duty,  especially  in  matters  of  reli- 
gion, to  be  fully  persuaded  in  our  minds  of  the  lawfulness  of 
what  we  do,  as  knowing  whatsoever  is  not  of  faith  is  sin.  And 
as  we  cannot  do  anything  contrary  to  our  understandings  and 
consciences,  so  neither  can  we  forbear  the  doing  of  that  which 
our  understandings  and  consciences  bind  us  to  do.  And  if  the 
magistrate  should  require  us  to  do  otherwise,  we  are  to  yield 
our  persons  in  a  passive  way  to  their  power,  as  the  saints  of 
old  have  done  (James  v.  4).  And  thrice  happy  shall  he  be, 
that  shall  lose  his  life  for  witnessing  (though  but  for  the  least 
tittle)  of  the  truth  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  (1  Pet.  v. ;  Gal.  v.)'r 
11  Article  49. — But  in  case  we  find  not  the  magistrate  to  favour 
us  herein ;  yet  we  dare  not  suspend  our  practice,  because  we 
believe  we  ought  to  go  in  obedience  to  Christ,  in  professing  the 
faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  which  faith  is  declared  in  the 
Holy  Ssriptures,  and  this  our  confession  of  faith  a  part  of  them  ; 
and  that  we  are  to  witness  to  the  truth  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament  to  the  death,  if  necessity  require,  in  the  midst  of  all 
trials  and  afflictions,  as  the  saints  of  old  have  done ;  not 
accounting  our  goods,  lands,  wives,  children,  fathers,  mothers, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  115 

brethren,  sisters,  yea,  and  our  own  lives  dear  unto  us,  so  we 
may  finish  our  course  with  joy  ;  remembering  always,  that  we 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men,  Who  will,  when  we  have 
finished  our  course,  and  kept  the  faith,  give  us  the  crown  of 
righteousness  ;  to  Whom  we  must  give  an  account  of  all  our 
actions,  and  no  man  being  able  to  discharge  us  of  the  same." 

"  Article  50. —It  is  lawful  for  a  Christian  to  be  a  magistrate 
or  civil  officer ;  and  also  it  is  lawful  to  take  an  oath,  so  it  be  in 
truth,  and  in  judgment,  and  in  righteousness,  for  confirmation 
of  truth,  and  ending  of  all  strife ;  and  that  by  rash  and  vain 
oaths  the  Lord  is  provoked,  and  this  land  mourns." 

"Article  51. — We  are  to  give  unto  all  men  whatsoever  is 
their  due,  as  their  place,  age,  estate,  requires  ;  and  that  we 
defraud  no  man  of  anything,  but  to  do  unto  all  men  as  we 
would  they  should  do  unto  us." 

After  this  clear  statement  of  their  opinions  on  the  subject  of 
obedience  to  magistrates,  oaths,  &c,  the  London  Confession 
closes  with  the  following  note  : — 

"  Thus  we  desire  to  give  unto  Christ  that  which  is  His,  and 
unto  all  lawful  authority  that  which  is  their  due,  and  to  owe 
nothing  to  any  man  but  love  ;  to  live  quietly  and  peaceably,  as 
it  becometh  saints,  endeavouring  in  all  things  to  keep  a  good 
conscience,  and  to  do  unto  every  man  (of  what  judgment  soever) 
as  we  would  they  should  do  unto  us ;  that  as  our  practice  is,  so 
it  may  prove  us  to  be  a  conscionable,  quiet,  and  harmless 
people  (noways  dangerous  and  troublesome  to  human  society), 
and  to  labour  and  work  with  our  hands,  that  we  may  not  be 
chargeable  to  any,  but  to  give  to  him  that  needeth,  both  friends 
and  enemies,  accounting  it  more  excellent  to  give  than  to 
receive.  Also  we  confess  that  we  know  but  in  part,  and  that 
we  are  ignorant  of  many  things  which  we  desire  and  seek  to 
know ;  and  if  any  shall  do  us  that  friendly  part  to  show  us,  from 
the  Word  of  God,  that  we  see  not,  we  shali  have  cause  to  be 
thankful  to  God  and  them.  But  if  any  man  shall  impose  upon 
us  anything  that  we  see  not  commanded  by  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 

i2      • 


n6  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

ice  should,  in  His  strength,  rat  Iter  embrace  all  reproaches  and 
tortures  of  men,  to  be  stripped  of  all  outward  comforts,  and  if  it 
were  jjossible,  to  die  a  thousand  deaths,  rather  than  to  do  anything 
against  the  least  tittle  of  the  Word  of  God,  or  against  the  light  of 
our  own  consciences.  And  if  any  shall  call  what  we  have  said 
heresy,  then  do  we,  with  the  Apostle,  acknowledge,  that  after 
the  way  they  call  heresy  worship  we  the  God  of  our  fathers, 
disclaiming  all  heresies  (rightly  so-called,  because  they  are 
against  Christ) ;  and  to  be  steadfastly  immovable,  always 
abounding  in  obedience  to  Christ,  as  knowing  that  our  own 
labour  shall  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord." 

It  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  men  who  had  so 
virulently  abused  the  Baptists  would  permit  this  Confession, 
closing  with  these  noble  words,  to  pass  unchallenged.  Featley, 
who  had  been  their  most  bitter  defamer,  felt  a  little  abashed 
before  its  clear  and  unanswerable  statements,  and  in  his  Censure, 
printed  shortly  after,  is  constrained  to  acknowledge,  with 
manifest  reluctance,  that — "  If  we  give  credit  to  this  Con- 
fession and  the  Preface  thereof,  those  who  among  us  are  branded 
w7ith  that  title  (Anabaptists)  are  neither  heretics,  nor  schis- 
matics, but  tender-hearted  Christians,  uponwThom,  through  false 
suggestions,  the  hand  of  authority  fell  heavily,  whilst  the 
hierarchy  stood ;  for  they  neither  teach  free-will,  nor  fall- 
ing away  from  grace,  with  the  Arminians ;  nor  deny  original 
sin,  with  the  Pelagians  ;  nor  disclaim  magistracy,  with  the 
Jesuits ;  nor  maintain  plurality  of  wives,  with  the  Polygamists  ; 
nor  community  of  goods,  with  the  Apostolic ;  nor  going  naked, 
with  the  Adamites ;  much  less  aver  the  mortality  of  the  soul, 
with  Epicurus  and  Pschopannichists."  But  the  scurrility  of 
Featley  is  ingrained.  Again  and  again,  in  the  course  of  this 
reply  of  some  seven  or  eight  pages,  he  indulges  in  the  old  abuse. 
"  They  cover  a  little  rat's-bane  in  a  great  quantity  of  sugar  ;" 
"  the  devil  holds  them  up  by  the  heel  only,  as  Thetis  did 
Achilles  when  she  dipt  him  in  the  sea ;"  they  are  "  like  the 
fish  and  serpents  in  the  mud  of  Nilus,  not  fully  shaped  ;  like  a 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  117 

statue  in  a  stonecutter's  shop,  not  finished;"  "they  are  no 
prophets,  but  enthusiasts ;  no  inspired  men,  but  distracted ; 
no  seers,  but  dreamers  ;  no  expositors,  but  impostors  ;  no  com- 
mentators, but  commenters — nay,  rather  commentiters ;  no 
workmen,  but  butchers  ;  no  carbuncles,  but  glow-worms  ;  no 
fixed  stars,  but  wandering  lights ;  no  lights,  but  ignes  fatuos, 
exhalations  incensed  in  the  night,  which  lead  fools  out  of  their 
way,  sometimes  into  thickets,  sometimes  into  ditches  and  quag- 
mires, and  many  of  them  into  rivers,  and  over  head  and  ears  !" 
A  valiant  champion  this,  in  good  sooth,  and  one  at  which  the 
Baptists  must  then  have  often  smiled  in  pity. 

That  the  London  Confession  was  accepted  generally,  and  set 
many  minds  to  rest,  is  proved  by  the  esteem  in  which  we  pre- 
sently find  the  Baptists  were  held,  both  in  London  and  else- 
where. They  were  to  be  found  in  the  army  of  the  Parliament, 
in  the  navy,  and  in  civil  offices  of  trust.  Much  prejudice 
against  the  Baptists  was  evidently  broken  down,  even  though 
Featley  called  them  bad  names,  and  declared  some  of  their 
Confession  "soured  with  the  new  leaven  of  Anabaptism."  Two 
editions  of  this  Apology  were  afterwards  published,  one  in  1651 
and  another  a  year  later.  In  1653  a  third  was  printed  at 
Leith,  by  a  small  company  of  Baptists  who  were  attached  to 
the  army.  The  alterations  in  the  second  edition  chiefly  modify 
the  very  marked  Calvinism  of  the  original  Confession. 

A  second  Calvinistic  Baptist  Confession  was  issued  by  the 
Somerset  churches  in  1656,  but  this  does  not  call  for  any  spe- 
cial notice.  There  was  also  a  third  Calvinistic  Confession  of 
twelve  articles  published  in  the  same  year  as  the  basis  of  the 
Midland  Association. 

Grantham's  Confession. 

In  1660,  Thomas  Grantham  and  Joseph  Wright  presented  an 
address  to  Charles  the  Second,  to  which  was  appended  a  brief 
confession  of  faith.  In  their  address  they  refer  to  the  persecu- 
tions they  had  endured  for  their  opinions,  their  difficulties  in 


n8  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

getting  redress  frorn  the  magistrates,  and  their  desire  for  the 
lung's  protection.  Of  course  the  King  said  it  was  not  his 
wish  that  any  of  his  subjects  should  be  persecuted  on  account 
of  their  religious  opinions,  promised  that  he  would  have  special 
care  over  them,  that  none  in  future  should  molest  and  annoy 
them,  and  at  once  ordered  some  one  to  go  to  the  Chancellor 
and  Secretary  to  see  that  due  measures  were  taken  for  their 
protection.  What  sort  of  "protection"  they  obtained  is  best 
seen  in  the  story  of  their  sufferings  during  the  next  quarter  of 
a  century.  The  Confession  was  signed  by  a  long  array  of  mini- 
sters, and  was  declared  to  be  "owned  and  approved  by  more 
than  twenty  thousand,"  a  clear  evidence  of  the  then  flourishing 
character  of  the  General  Baptist  Denomination.  Grantham's 
Confession  is  purposely  brief,  but  it  is  very  doubtful,  brief  though 
it  is,  whether  the  King,  into  whose  hands  it  was  put,  ever  took  the 
trouble  to  read  it.  Although  equally  outspoken  with  Smyth's, 
it  is  no  mere  copy  of  that  earliest  Confession.  It  also  bears 
this  resemblance  to  the  London  Confession,  that  it  was  after- 
wards published  "to  inform  all  men,  in  those  days  of  reproach 
and  scandal,  of  our  innocent  belief  and  practice,"  in  the 
maintenance  of  which  they  declare  themselves  "  resolved  to 
suffer  persecution  not  only  to  the  loss  of  our  goods,  but  to  life 
itself."  They  also  "  utterly,  and  from  their  very  hearts,  in 
the  Lord's  fear,  declare  against  all  those  wicked  and  devilish 
reports,  and  reproaches,  falsely  cast  upon  us,  as  though  some 
of  us  (in  and  about  the  City  of  London)  had  lately  gotten 
knives,  hooked  knives,  and  the  like,  and  great  store  of  ;. 
besides,  which  were  given  forth  by  order  of  Parliament,  intend- 
ing to  cut  the  throats  of  such  as  were  contrary  minded  to  us  in 
matters  of  religion ;  and  that  such  knives  and  arms,  for  the 
carrying  on  some  secret  design,  hath  been  found  in  some  of  our 
houses  by  search." 

Two  or  three  articles  will  show  the  positions  then  held  by 
the  General  Baptists.  In  the  fourth  we  read  : — "  That  God  is 
not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  but  that  all  should  come  to 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  119 


repentance  (2  Pet.  iii.  9)  and  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  that 
they  may  be  saved  (1  Tim.  ii.  4).  For  which  end  Christ  hath 
commanded  that  the  Gospel  (to  wit,  the  glad  tidings  of  re- 
mission of  sins)  should  be  preached  to  every  creature  (Mark 
xvi.  15).  So  that  no  man  shall  suffer  in  hell  (that  is,  the 
second  death)  for  want  of  a  Christ  that  died  for  them ;  but,  as 
the  Scripture  saith,  for  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them 
(2  Pet.  ii.  1),  or  because  they  believe  not  on  the  name  of  the 
only-begotten  Son  of  God  (John  iii.  18).  Unbelief,  therefore, 
being  the  cause  why  the  just  and  righteous  God  will  condemn 
the  children  of  men,  it  follows,  against  all  contradiction,  that  all 
men,  at  one  time  or  other,  are  put  in  such  capacity  as  that 
(through  the  grace  of  God)  they  may  be  eternally  saved  (John 
i.  7 ;  Acts  xvii.  30 ;  Mark  vi.  6  ;  Heb.  iii.  10,  18,  19 ;  1  John 
v.  10;  John  iii.  17). 

"  Article  8. — That  God  hath,  even  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world,  chosen  (or  elected)  to  eternal  life  such  as  believe, 
and  so  are  in  Christ  (John  iii.  16  ;  Eph.  i.  4  ;  2  Thess.  ii.  13) ; 
yet  confident  we  are,  that  the  purpose  of  God,  according  to 
election,  was  not  in  the  least  arising  from  foreseen  faith  in,  or 
works  of  righteousness  done  by  the  creature,  but  only  from  the 
mercy,  goodness,  and  compassion  dwelling  in  God ;  and  so  it  is 
of  Him  that  calleth  (Rom.  ix.  11),  whose  purity  and  unword- 
able  holiness  cannot  admit  of  any  unclean  person  (or  thing)  to 
be  in  His  presence ;  therefore,  His  decree  of  mercy  reaches 
only  to  the  godly  man,  whom  (saith  David)  God  hath  set  apart 
for  Himself  (Psa.  iv.  3). 

"  Article  9. — That  men,  not  considered  simply  as  men, 
but  ungodly  men,  were  of  old  ordained  unto  condemnation, 
considered  as  such,  who  turn  the  grace  of  God  into  wanton- 
ness, and  deny  the  only  Lord  God  and  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
(Jude  iv.).  God  indeed  sends  a  strong  delusion  to  men,  that 
they  might  be  damned  ;  but  we  observe  that  they  are  such  (as 
saith  the  Apostle)  that  receive  not  the  love  of  the  truth,  that 
they  might  be  saved  (2  Thess.  ii.  10 — 12) ;  and  so  the  indigna- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


tion  and  wrath  of  God  is  upon  eveiy  soul  of  man  that  doth 
evil,  living  and  dying  therein,  for  there  is  no  respect  of  persons 
with  God  (Rom.  ii.  9—11). 

"  Article  10. — That  all  children  dying  in  infancy,  having 
not  actually  transgressed  against  the  law  of  God  in  their  own 
persons,  are  only  subject  to  the  first  death,  which  comes  upon 
them  by  the  sin  of  the  first  Adam,  from  whence  they  shall  be  all 
raised  by  the  Second  Adam,  and  not  that  any  one  of  them 
dying  in  that  state  shall  suffer  for  Adam's  sin  eternal  punish- 
ment in  hell  (which  is  the  second  death),  for  to  such  belongs 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  (1  Cor.  xv.  22 ;  Matt.  xix.  14) ;  not 
daring  to  conclude  with  that  uncharitable  opinion  of  others, 
who,  though  they  plead  much  for  the  bringing  of  children  into 
the  visible  Church  here  on  earth  by  baptism,  yet  nevertheless, 
by  their  doctrine,  that  Christ  died  but  for  some,  shut  a  greater 
part  of  them  out  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  for  ever." 

Grantham's  closing  remarks  are  not  without  strong  warrant. 
A  high  Calvinist  of  his  day  wrote  a  book  entitled  Moral 
Reflections  on  the  X umber  of  the  Elect ;  in  which  the  writer 
declared  that  he  had  sufficiently  proved,  from  Scripture 
evidence,  "  that  not  one  in  a  hundred  thousand  ;  nay,  probably, 
not  one  in  a  million,  from  Adam  downwards,  shall  be  saved," 

In  regard  to  magistrates,  the  twenty-fifth  article  says  : — "  We 
believe  that  there  ought  to  be  civil  magistrates  in  all  nations 
for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the  praise  of  them 
that  do  well  (1  Pet.  ii.  14)  ;  and  that  all  wicked  lewdness  and 
fleshly  filthiness,  contrary  to  just  and  wholesome  (civil)  laws, 
ought  to  be  punished  according  to  the  nature  of  the  offences ; 
and  this  without  respect  of  any  persons,  religion,  or  profession 
whatsoever  ;  and  that  we,  and  all  men,  are  obliged  by  Gospel 
rules,  to  be  faithful  to  the  higher  powers,  to  obey  magistrates 
(Acts  iii.  1),  and  to  submit  to  every  ordinance  of  man,  for  the 
Lord's  sake,  as  saith  Pet.  ii.  13.  But  in  case  the  civil  power  do,  or 
shall  at  any  time  impose  things  about  matters  of  religion,  which 
we,  through  conscience  to  God  cannot  actually  obey,  then  we, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


with  Peter  also,  do  say  that  we  ought,  in  such  case,  to  obey 
God  rather  than  men  (Acts  v.  29 ;  and  accordingly  do  hereby 
declare  our  whole  holy  intent  and  purpose  that  through  the 
grace  of  God  we  tvill  not  yield,  nor  in  such  cases  in  the 
least  actually  obey  them ;  yet  humbly  purposing,  in  the  Lord's 
strength,  patiently  to  suffer  whatsoever  shall  be  inflicted  upon 
us  for  our  conscionable  forbearance." 

Brave  words  again,  and  such  as  the  Baptists  in  those  days 
knew  well  how  to  utter — words,  moreover,  which  they  shortly 
verified  by  their  equally  heroic  deeds.  Grantham  reprinted 
this  Confession  in  his  Christ ianismus  Primiticus,  adding  thereto 
"Explanatory  Statements,  and  the  Testimony  of  many  of  the 
Ancient  Writers  of  Christianity,  to  show  that  though  the  Com- 
position of  these  Articles  be  New,  yet  the  Doctrine  contained 
therein  is  truly  Ancient,  being  Witnessed  both  by  the  Holy 
Scriptures  and  later  Writers  of  Christianity." 

The  Confession  next  published  was  called 

The  Orthodox  Creed. 

It  was  issued  in  1678,  by  the  General  Baptists  of  the  counties 
of  Bucks,  Hereford,  Bedford,  and  Oxford  ;  was  written  by  a 
Thomas  Monk,  of  Bucks,  the  author  of  a  book  entitled  A  Cure 
for  the  Cankering  Error  of  the  New  Eutychians,  and  was  signed 
by  fifty-four  messengers,  elders,  and  brethren.  According  to 
Adam  Taylor,  the  historian  of  the  General  Baptists,  the  design 
of  the  compiler  was  to  approximate  as  closely  as  possible  to  the 
Calvinistic  system,  without  giving  up  the  tenets  held  by 
General  Baptists.  It  differs  materially  in  some  doctrinal  points 
from  the  Confession  of  1660 ;  attempts  to  explain  and  account 
for  those  things  which  the  other  only  asserts  ;  is  highly  meta- 
physical ;  is  "  an  explication  of  the  inexplicables,  and  probably 
introduced  or  encouraged  that  spirit  of  philosophizing  on  sacred 
subjects  which,  soon  after  its  publication,  distracted  the  Deno- 
mination." There  is  no  proof  that  it  was  ever  generally 
accepted  by  the  General  Baptists,  and  a  contemporary  writer, 


122  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

Joseph  Hooke,  himself  a  messenger  of  their  churches,  thus 
describes  this  Creed,  in  his  Necessary  Apology: — "  Tis  true 
some  small  exceptions  may  be  made  against  some  few  passages 
in  it,  but  nothing  that  respects  the  fundamentals  of  religion. 
There  is  nothing  that  directly  opposeth  the  Word  of  God. 
But  they  were  men  who  composed  it;  and  men  may  err.  They 
expounded  as  well  as  they  could,  and  imposed  upon  nobody, 
but  left  others  to  judge  for  themselves,  and  to  receive  their 
well-meant  interpretations,  if  they  could  understand  them,  if 
not,  to  let  them  alone."  In  other  words,  they  were,  like  the 
other  Confessions,  expositions  of  sentiments,  not  articles  of 
belief,  and  expositions  that  were  accepted  or  refused  as  men 
might  individually  determine. 

The  second,  third,  and  fourth  articles,  on  "  the  Divine  attri- 
butes of  God  and  the  Holy  Trinity,"  will  at  once  betray  its 
metaphysical  character. 

"  Article  2. — Every  particle  of  being  in  heaven  and  earth 
leads  us  to  the  infinite  Being  of  beings,  namely,  God ; 
who  is  simplicity,  that  is,  one  mere  and  perfect  act, 
without  all  composition,  and  an  immense  sea  of  perfections ; 
who  is  the  only  eternal  Being,  everlasting  without  time, 
whose  immense  Presence  is  always  everywhere  present,  having 
immutability  without  any  alteration  in  being  or  will.  In  a 
word,  God  is  infinite,  of  universal,  unlimited,  and  incompre- 
hensible perfection,  most  holy,  wise,  just,  and  good ;  whose 
wisdom  is  His  justice,  whose  justice  is  His  holiness,  and  whose 
wisdom,  justice,  holiness  is — Himself.  Most  merciful,  graci- 
ous, faithful,  and  true,  a  full  fountain  of  love,  and  who  is  that 
perfect,  sovereign,  Divine  will,  the  Alpha  of  supreme  being. 

"Article  3. — In  this  Divine  and  Infinite  Being,  or  unity  of  the 
Godhead,  there  are  three  persons,  or  subsistences,  the  Father,  the 
Word  or  Son,  or  the  Holy  Spirit,  of  one  subsistence,  power, 
eternity,  and  will ;  each  having  the  whole  Divine  essence,  yet 
the  essence  undivided.  The  Father  is  of  none,  neither  be- 
gotten nor  proceeding;  the   Son  is   eternally  begotten  of  the 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  123 

Father ;  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  pro- 
ceeding. All  infinite,  without  beginning,  therefore  but  one 
God,  who  is  invisible,  and  not  to  be  divided  in  nature,  or 
being,  but  distinguishable  by  several  properties  and  personal 
relations,  and  we  worship  and  adore  a  Trinity  in  Unity,  and  a 
Unity  in  Trinity,  three  persons,  and  but  one  God :  which 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  the  foundation  of  all  our  communion 
with  God,  and  comfortable  dependence  on  Him. 

"Article  4. — We  confess  and  believe  that  the  Son  of  God,  or  the 
eternal  Word,  is  very  and  true  God,  having  His  personal  sub- 
sistence of  the  Father  alone,  and  yet  for  Himself  as  God;  and 
of  the  Father  as  the  Son,  the  eternal  Son  of  an  eternal  Father  ; 
not  later  in  the  beginning.  There  never  was  any  time  when 
He  was  not ;  not  less  in  dignity,  not  other  in  substance,  be- 
gotten without  diminution  of  His  Father  that  begat,  of  one 
nature  and  substance  with  the  Father ;  begotten  of  the  Father, 
while  the  Father  communicating  wholly  to  the  Son,  which  He 
retained  wholly  in  Himself,  because  both  were  infinite,  without 
inequality  of  nature,  without  division  of  essence,  neither  made, 
nor  created,  nor  adopted,  but  begotten  before  all  time ;  not  a 
metaphorical  or  subordinate  God ;  not  a  God  by  office,  but 
a  God  by  nature,  is  equal,  co-essential,  and  co-eternal  with 
the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost." 

In  the  same  fashion  the  Confession  discourses  on  "The  Second 
Person  of  the  Trinity  taking  our  flesh,"  on  "  The  Union  of  the 
Two  Natures  in  Christ,"  on  "  The  Communication  of  Properties," 
and  "  The  Holy  Spirit;  "  and  we  are  not,  therefore,  surprised 
when  we  come  to  the  thirty-eighth  article  to  find  "  that  the 
Nicene  Creed,  Athanasius'  Creed,  and  the  Apostles'  Creed,  as 
they  are  commonly  called,  ought  thoroughly  to  be  received  and 
believed." 

The  ninth  article,  "  Of  Predestination  and  Election,"  may  be 
compared  with  the  eighteenth,  "Of  Christ  dying  for  all  man- 
kind." The  first  declares  : — "  The  decrees  of  God  are  founded 
on  infinite  wisdom  and  situate  in  eternity,  and  crowned  with 


i24  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

infallibility  as  to  the  event.     Now  predestination  unto  life  is 
the  everlasting  purpose  of  God,  whereby,  before  the  foundation 
of  the  world  was  laid,    He    hath   constantly  decreed   in  His 
counsel,   secret  to  us,   to   deliver  from  curse  and  damnation, 
those   whom   He   hath  chosen  in   Christ,   and  bring  them  to 
everlasting  salvation,  as  vessels  made  to  honour,  through  Jesus 
Christ, — whom  He  elected  before  the  foundation  of  the  world, 
and  is  called  God's  elect,  in  whom  His  soul  delighteth,  being 
the  Lamb  foreordained,  and  so  predestinated  unto  the  super- 
lative glory  of  the  hypostatical  union.     And  this  is  not  for  any 
foreseen  holiness  of  his  human  nature,  with  all  that  did  flow  out 
of  the  hypostatical  union,  being  elected  of  mere  grace,  as  are 
all  members  of  His  mystical  body.     And  God  the  Father  gave 
this,  His  elected  and  beloved  Son,  for  a  covenant  to  the  people, 
and  said,  *  that  His  covenant  shall  stand  fast  with  Him,  and 
His   seed  shall  endure  for  ever.'     And,  albeit,  God  the  Father 
be  the  sufficient  cause  of  all  good  things  He  intended  to  us, 
yet  Christ  is  the  meriting  cause  of  all  those  good  things  God 
intended  to  us  in  election,  namely,  repentance,  faith,  and  sin- 
cere obedience  to  all  God's  commandments.     And  so  God  the 
Father,  that  He  might  bring  about  the  eternal  salvation  of  His 
elect,  chose  the  man  Christ,  with  respect  to  His  human  nature, 
out  of  the  fallen  lump  of  mankind,  which,  in  the  fulness  of  time 
He  made  of  a  woman, — made  under  the  law,  to  redeem  those 
that  were  under  it,  that  we  might  receive  the  adoption  of  sons. 
"  And  though  Christ  came  from  Adam,  as  Eve  did,  yet  not  by 
Adam,  as  Cain  did — viz.,  by  natural  propagation,   [He  was] 
therefore  without  any  stain  of  sin.      And  this  second  Adam, 
being,   by  God's  eternal  decree,   excepted    out    of    the    first 
covenant,   as    being  neither    God    the  Father,  who  we  justly 
offended,  nor  yet  sinful  Adam,  who  had  offended  Him  in  break- 
ing of  it :  therefore  Christ,  the  second  Adam,  was  a  fit  mediator 
between  God  and  man,  to  reconcile  both  in  Himself,  by  the 
shedding  and  sprinkling  of  His  blood,  according  to  God's  eternal 
purpose  in  electing  of  Christ,  of  all  that  do,  or  shall  believe  in 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  125 

Him ;  which  eternal  election,  or  covenant  transaction  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son,  is  very  consistent  with  His  revealed 
will  in  the  Gospel ;  for  we  ought  not  to  oppose  the  grace  of  God 
in  electing  of  us,  nor  yet  the  grace  of  the  Son  in  dying  for  all  men, 
and  so  for  us,  nor  yet  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  propound- 
ing the  Gospel,  and  persuading  us  to  believe  it.  For  until  we  do 
believe,  the  effects  of  God's  displeasure  are  not  taken  from  us ; 
for  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  all  them  that  do  not  believe  in 
Christ.  For  the  actual  declaration  in  the  Court  of  Conscience  is 
by  faith  an  instrument,  not  for  faith  as  a  meriting  cause  ;  for 
Christ  is  the  meriting  cause  of  eternal  life  to  all  that  believe, 
but  not  of  God's  will  to  give  eternal  life  to  them,  nor  yet  of 
God's  decree  to  save  us,  albeit  we  are  chosen  in  Christ  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world.  Now  faith  is  necessary  as  the 
way  of  our  salvation,  as  an  instrumental  cause  ;  but  the  active 
and  passive  obedience  of  Christ  is  necessary  as  a  meriting  cause 
of  our  salvation  ;  therefore  God's  eternal  decree  doth  not  oppose 
His  eternal  will  revealed  in  the  Gospel,  it  being  but  one,  not  two 
diverse  and  contrary  wills.  For  His  decree,  as  King,  decreeth 
the  event,  or  what  shall  be  done  infallibly ;  but  His  command 
as  a  lawgiver  showeth  not  what  shall  be  done,  but  what  is  the 
duty  of  man  to  do,  and  leave  undone.  Therefore  God  hath,  we 
believe,  decreed  that  faith,  as  the  means  of  salvation,  as  the  end 
shall  be  joined  together ;  that  where  the  one  is,  the  other 
must  be  also,  for  it  is  written:  'He  that  believeth  shall  be 
saved  ;  '  also,  '  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved.'  Now,  here  is  a  great  mystery  indeed,  for  God 
so  ministereth  His  absolute  decree  that  He  leaves  as  much 
place  for  an  efficacious  conditional  dispensation  as  if  the  decree 
itself  were  conditional." 

The  article  closes  with  a  long  catalogue  of  Scripture  refer- 
ences— upwards  of  sixty — in  confirmation  of  the  opinions 
expressed.  It  is  not  surprising,  however,  that  some  passages 
in  the  article  were  quoted  by  an  advocate  for  High  Calvinism, 
who,  some  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  publication  of  this 


126  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

Confession,  had  found  his  way  into  a  General  Baptist  pulpit  in 
Leicestershire  ;  and  quoted  as  "  from  the  writings  of  Thomas 
Monk,  and  about  fifty  brethren  besides,  of  the  '  General '  faith, 
all  stars  of  the  first  magnitude."  The  General  Association  in 
London  in  1700,  hearing  of  this  assertion,  as  emphatically 
denied  it ;  sent  a  copy  of  Orthodox  Creed  to  the  Midland 
brethren,  with  a  few  comments  of  their  own ;  and  advised  that 
the  minister  should  be  dealt  with,  "asa  preacher  of  false  doc- 
trine, and  as  one  who  slandered  his  brethren."  This  incident 
illustrates  the  "  uncertain  sound  "  given  by  the  Confession,  and 
perhaps  accounts  for  its  want  of  general  favour. 

The  twentieth  article  touches  on  "  The  Free  Will  in  Man  :" — 
"  God  hath  endued  the  will  of  man  with  that  natural  liberty 
and  power  of  acting  upon  choice,  that  is  neither  forced,  nor  by 
any  necessity  of  nature,  determined  to  do  good  or  evil  ;  but 
man,  in  a  state  of  innocency,  had  such  power  and  liberty  of 
will  to  choose  and  perform  that  which  was  acceptable  and  well- 
pleasing  to  God,  according  to  the  requirement  of  the  first  cove- 
nant ;  but  he,  falling  from  his  state  of  innocency,  wholly  lost 
all  ability,  or  liberty  of  will,  to  any  spiritual  good  for  his  eternal 
salvation,  his  will  being  now  in  bondage  under  sin  and  Satan, 
and  therefore  not  able  of  his  own  strength  to  convert  himself, 
nor  prepare  himself  thereunto,  without  God's  grace  taketh 
away  the  enmity  out  of  his  will,  and  by  His  special  grace  freeth 
him  from  his  natural  bondage  under  sin,  enabling  him  to  will 
freely  and  sincerely  that  which  is  spiritually  good,  according  to 
the  tenure  of  the  new  covenant  of  grace  in  Christ ;  though  not 
perfectly,  according  to  the  tenure  of  the  first  covenant,  which 
perfection  of  will  is  only  attainable  in  the  state  of  glory,  after 
the  redemption  or  resurrection  of  our  fleshly  bodies." 

In  speaking  "  Of  Vocation  and  Effectual  Calling,"  the  next 
article  says  : — "  That  general  calling  is,  when  God  by  means  of 
His  Word  and  Spirit,  freely  of  His  own  grace  and  goodness, 
doth  ministerially  acquaint  mankind  with  His  gracious  good 
purpose  of  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ,  inviting  and  wooing  them 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  127 

to  come  to  Him,  and  to  accept  of  Christ,  revealing  unto  them 
the  Gospel  covenant,  and  that  those  that  with  cordial  hearts  do 
improve  this  common  grace,  He  in  time  worketh  unfeigned 
faith  and  sincere  repentance  in  them  ;  and  by  His  grace  they 
corns  to  accept  Christ  as  their  only  Lord  and  Saviour,  with 
their  whole  heart,  and  God  becomes  their  Father  in  Christ,  and 
they  being  then  effectually  called,  are  by  faith  united  to  Jesus 
Christ  by  grace  unto  salvation." 

Like  Smyth's  Confession,  and  Grantham's,  the  Orthodox 
Creed  also  strongly  insists  on  the  salvation  of  children  dying  in 
infancy:  Smyth  declaring,  "that  being  born  in  innocency, 
without  sin,  that  they  dying  are  undoubtedly  saved  ;"  Gran- 
tham, that  "  all  children  dying  in  infancy,  have  not  actually 
transgressed  against  the  love  of  God  in  their  own  persons,  and 
only  subject  to  the  first  death,  from  whence  they  shall  be  all 
raised  by  the  second  Adam  ;  "  and  the  Orthodox  Creed,  "  that 
all  little  children  dying  in  their  infancy,  viz.,  before  they  are 
capable  to  choose  either  good  or  evil,  whether  born  of  believing 
parents,  or  unbelieving  parents,  shall  be  saved  by  the  grace  of 
God  and  the  merit  of  Christ  their  Redeemer,  and  the  work  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  so  being  made  members  of  the  invisible 
Church,  shall  enjoy  life  everlasting." 

Smyth  objects  to  the  use  of  oaths  (Article  88);  but  Gran- 
tham, in  his  Christ  ianismus  Primitivus,  says,  "  that  many 
Christians  are  doubtful  in  this  case,  but  without  sufficient 
grounds;"  and  the  Orthodox  Creed  also  declares  "  that  an 
oath  is  to  be  taken  in  the  plain  and  common  sense  of  the 
words,  without  equivocation  or  mental  reservation,  in  a  solemn 
and  reverent  using  of  God's  holy  name ;  and  such  an  oath  we 
believe  all  Christians,  when  lawfully  called  thereunto  by  the 
magistrate,  may  take ;  but  the  foolish  and  monastical  vows  of 
Papists,  and  all  idle  and  vain  swearing  is  abominable  and 
wicked  profaning  of  the  holy  name  of  God." 

The  articles    on  "The  Civil  Magistrate"  and  "Liberty  of 
Conscience"  may  also  be  cited  to  illustrate,  still  further,  the 


128  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

uniform  testimony  of  the  misrepresented  and  falsely  called 
Anabaptists.  In  the  first,  it  is  declared,  "  The  supreme  Lord 
and  King  of  all  the  earth  hath  ordained  civil  magistrates  to  be 
under  Him  over  the  people,  for  His  own  glory  and  the  public 
good.  And  the  office  of  a  magistrate  may  be  accepted  of  and 
executed  by  Christians,  when  lawfully  called  thereunto ;  and 
God  hath  given  the  power  of  the  sword  into  the  hands  of  all 
lawful  magistrates  for  the  defence  and  encouragement  of  them 
that  do  well,  and  for  the  punishment  of  evil-doers,  and  for  the 
maintenance  of  justice  and  peace,  according  to  the  wholesome 
laws  of  each  kingdom  and  commonwealth  ;  and  they  may  wage 
war  upon  just  and  necessary  occasions.  And  subjection  in  the 
Lord  ought  to  be  yielded  to  the  magistrates  in  all  lawful  things 
commanded  by  them,  for  conscience'  sake,  with  prayers  for 
them  for  a  blessing  upon  them,  paying  all  lawful  and  reason- 
able custom  and  tribute  to  them,  for  the  assisting  of  them 
against  foreign,  domestical,  and  potent  enemies." 

Equally  distinct  and  emphatic  is  the  teaching  of  the  second : — 
"  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  King  of  Kings,  and  Lord  of 
all  by  purchase,  and  is  Judge  of  quick  and  dead,  is  the  only 
Lord  of  conscience,  having  a  peculiar  right  to  be  so  ;  He  having 
died  for  that  end,  to  take  away  the  guilt,  and  to  destroy  the 
filth  of  sin,  that  keeps  the  consciences  of  all  men  in  thraldom 
and  bondage,  till  they  are  set  free  by  His  special  grace.  And, 
therefore,  He  would  not  have  the  consciences  of  men  in  bondage  to 
or  imposed  upon  by  any  usurpation,  tyranny,  or  command  what- 
soever, contrary  to  His  revealed  Word,  which  is  the  only  rule 
He  hath  left  for  the  consciences  of  all  men  to  be  ruled,  and 
regulated,  and  guided  by,  through  the  assistance  of  His  Spirit. 
And,  therefore,  the  obedience  to  any  command  or  decree  that 
is  not  revealed  in,  or  consonant  to  His  Word,  in  the  holy 
oracles  of  Scripture,  is  a  betraying  of  the  true  liberty  of  con- 
science. And  the  requiring  of  an  implicit  faith,  and  an  abso- 
lute blind  obedience,  destroys  liberty  of  conscience  and  reason 
also,  it  being  repugnant  to  both  ;   and  that  no  pretended  good 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  129 

end  whatsoever,  by  any  man,  can  make  that  action,  obedience, 
or  practice,  lawful  and  good,  that  is  not  grounded  in  or  upon 
the  authority  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  right  reason  agreeable 
thereunto.'  The  closing  part  of  this  article,  and  the  expres- 
sions used  in  others,  arise  from  the  Creed  seeking,  as  the  title- 
page  declares,  '  to  unite  and  confirm  all  true  Protestants  in  the 
fundamental  articles  of  the  Christian  religion,  against  the  errors 
and  heresies  of  Rome.''  " 
The  next  most  remarkable  public  Confession  is  now  known  as 

The  Confession  of  the  Assembly. 

It  first  appeared  a  year  earlier  than  the  Orthodox  Creed,  and 
has  ever  since  been  regarded  as  a  just  exposition  of  the  senti- 
ments of  the  Particular,  or  Calvinistic,  Baptists.  It  was  issued 
anonymously,  "  by  the  elders  and  brethren  of  many  congrega- 
tions of  Christians  (baptized  upon  profession  of  faith)  in  London 
and  the  country."  A  second  edition  appeared  in  1688;  and 
the  following  year  it  formally  received  the  sanction  of  the 
General  Assembly.  The  notice,  "  appended  to  many  copies  of 
the  edition  of  1688,  and  to  all  subsequent  editions,"  was  as 
follows: — "We,  the  ministers  and  messengers  of,  and  con- 
cerned for,  upwards  of  one  hundred  baptized  congregations  in 
England  and  Wales  (denying  Arminianism),  being  met  together 
in  London,  from  the  third  of  the  seventh  month,  to  the  eleventh 
of  the  same,  1689,  to  consider  of  some  things  that  might  be  for 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  these  congregations,  have 
thought  meet,  (for  the  satisfaction  of  all  other  Christians  that 
differ  from  us  in  the  point  of  baptism),  to  recommend  to  their 
perusal  the  Confession  of  our  Faith,  printed  for  and  sold  by 
Mr.  John  Harris,  at  the  Harrow,  in  the  Poultry,  which  Con- 
fession we  own,  as  containing  the  doctrine  of  our  faith  and 
practice ;  and  do  desire  that  the  members  of  our  churches 
respectively  do  furnish  themselves  therewith."  Among  other 
signatures  appended  to  this  "Notice"  are  those  of  Knollys, 
Kiffin,  the  two  Collins' — Hercules  and  William,  Keach,  Tom- 


130  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


kins,  &c.     They  subscribed  to  it,  as  they  assure  us,  "  in  the 
name  and  behalf  of  the  Assembly." 

The  Westminster  Confession,  made  in  the  days  of  Charles 
the  First,  is  followed  nearly  word  for  word,  with  such  omis- 
sions or  additions  as  their  own  opinions  required.  A  few  of 
the  articles,  or  chapters,  may  be  quoted,  omitting  the  numerous 
Scripture  references  with  which  each  of  them  is  crowded. 

The  third  chapter  thus  deals  with  the  subject  "  Of  God's 
Decrees"  : — 

"  1.  God  hath  decreed  in  Himself,  from  all  eternity,  by  the 
most  wise  and  holy  counsel  of  His  own  will,  freely  and  un- 
changeably, all  things  whatsoever  come  to  pass ;  yet  so  as 
thereby  God  is  not  the  author  of  sin,  nor  hath  fellowship 
with  any  therein,  nor  is  violence  offered  to  the  will  of  His 
creature,  nor  yet  is  the  liberty  or  contingency  of  second 
causes  taken  away,  but  rather  established;  in  which  appears 
His  wisdom  in  disposing  all  things,  and  power,  and  faithfulness 
in  accomplishing  His  decree.  2.  Although  God  knoweth  what- 
soever may,  or  can  come  to  pass  upon  all  supposed  conditions, 
yet  hath  He  not  decreed  anything,  because  He  foresaw  it  as 
future,  or  as  that  which  would  come  to  pass  upon  such  condi- 
tions. 3.  By  the  decree  of  God  for  the  manifestation  of  His 
glory,  some  men  and  angels  are  predestinated  and  foreordained 
to  eternal  life,  through  Jesus  Christ,  to  the  praise  of  His  glorious 
grace ;  others  being  left  to  act  in  their  sin  to  their  just  con- 
demnation, to  the  praise  of  His  glorious  justice.  4.  These 
angels  and  men  thus  predestinated,  and  foreordained,  are  par- 
ticularly and  unchangeably  designed ;  and  their  number  so 
certain  and  definite,  that  it  cannot  be  increased  or  diminished. 
5.  Those  of  mankind  that  are  predestinated  to  life,  God,  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world  was  laid,  according  to  His  eternal 
and  immutable  purpose,  and  the  secret  counsel  and  good  plea- 
sure of  His  will,  hath  chosen  in  Christ  unto  everlasting  glory, 
out  of  His  mere  free  grace  and  love ;  without  any  other  thing 
in  the  creaturo  as  a  condition  or  cause  moving  Him  thereunto. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  131 

6.  As  God  hath  appointed  the  elect  unto  glory,  so  He  hath,  by 
the  eternal  and  most  free  purpose  of  His  will,  foreordained  all 
the  means  thereunto,  wherefore  they  who  are  elected,  being 
fallen  in  Adam,  are  redeemed  by  Christ,  are  effectually  called 
unto  faith  in  Christ,  by  His  Spirit  working  in  due  season,  are 
justified,  adopted,  sanctified  and  saved,  and  kept  by  His  power 
through  faith  unto  salvation ;  neither  are  any  other  redeemed 
by  Christ,  or  effectually  called,  justified,  adopted,  sanctified, 
and  saved,  but  the  elect  only.  7.  The  doctrine  of  this  high 
mystery  of  predestination  is  to  be  handled  with  special  prudence 
and  care ;  that  men,  attending  the  will  of  God  revealed  in  His 
Word  and  yielding  obedience  thereto,  may,  from  the  cer- 
tainty of  their  effectual  vocation,  be  assured  of  their  eternal 
election ;  so  shall  this  doctrine  afford  matter  of  praise,  rever- 
ence, and  admiration  of  God,  and  of  humility,  diligence,  and 
abundant  consolation  to  all  that  sincerely  obey  the  Gospel." 

The  article  on  "free  will"  is  very  similar  to  that  which 
appears  in  the  Orthodox  Creed;  but  the  one  on  "  effectual 
calling"  is  very  different.  "  Those  whom  God  hath  predesti- 
nated unto  life,  He  is  pleased,  in  His  appointed  and  accepted 
time,  effectually  to  call  by  His  Word  and  Spirit,  out  of  that 
state  of  sin  and  death  in  which  they  are  by  nature,  to  grace 
and  salvation  by  Jesus  Christ ;  enlightening  their  minds, 
spiritually  and  savingly,  to  understand  the  things  of  God, 
taking  away  their  heart  of  stone,  and  giving  them  a  heart  of 
flesh  ;  renewing  their  wills,  and  by  His  Almighty  power  deter- 
mining them  to  that  which  is  good,  and  effectually  drawing  them 
to  Jesus  Christ ;  yet  so  as  they  come  most  freely,  being  made 
willing  by  His  grace.  2.  This  effectual  call  is  of  God's  free 
and  special  grace  alone,  not  from  anything  at  all  foreseen  in 
man,  nor  from  any  power  or  agency  in  the  creature,  co-working 
with  His  special  grace,  the  creature  being  wholly  passive 
therein,  being  dead  in  sins  and  trespasses,  until,  being  quickened 
and  renewed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  he  is  enabled  to  answer  this 
call,  and  to  embrace  the  grace  offered  and  conveyed  in  it,  and 

k2 


132  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

that  by  no  less  power  than  that  which  raised  up  Christ  from 
the  dead.  3.  Elect  infants  dying  in  infancy  are  regenerated 
and  saved  by  Christ  through  the  Spirit,  who  worketh  when, 
and  where,  and  how  He  pleaseth ;  so,  also,  are  all  other  elect 
persons,  who  are  incapable  of  being  outwardly  called  by  the 
ministry  of  the  Word.  4.  Others  not  elected,  though  they  may- 
be called  by  the  ministry  of  the  Word,  and  may  have  some 
common  operations  of  the  Spirit,  yet  not  being  effectually 
drawn  by  the  Father,  they  neither  wTill  nor  can  truly  come  to 
Christ,  and  therefore  cannot  be  saved :  much  less  can  men 
that  receive  not  the  Christian  religion  be  saved,  be  they  never 
so  diligent  to  frame  their  lives  according  to  the  light  of  nature, 
and  the  law  of  that  religion  they  do  profess." 

We  give  another  of  these  articles,  that  on  "  the  perseverance 
of  the  saints,"  since  this  article,  and  the  one  on  "  personal 
election  "  are  specially  pointed  out  as  distinguishing  them  from 
the  other  Baptists  then  existing:  "  Those  whom  God  hath 
accepted  in  the  Beloved,  effectually  called  and  sanctified  by  His 
Spirit,  and  given  the  precious  faith  of  His  elect  unto,  can 
neither  totally  nor  finally  fall  from  the  state  of  grace,  but  shall 
certainly'persevere  therein  unto  the  end,  and  be  eternally  6aved, 
seeing  the  gifts  and  callings  of  God  are  without  repentance 
(whence  He  still  begets  and  nourisheth  in  them  faith,  repentance, 
love,  joy,  and  hope,  and  all  the  graces  of  the  Spirit  unto 
immortality) ;  and  though  many  storms  and  floods  arise  and 
beat  against  them,  yet  they  shall  never  be  able  to  take  them  off 
that  foundation  and  rock  which  by  faith  they  are  fastened 
upon  ;  notwithstanding,  through  unbelief  and  the  temptations 
of  Satan,  the  sensible  sight  and  love  of  God  may  for  a  time  be 
clouded  and  obscured  from  them,  yet  He  is  still  the  same,  and 
they  shall  be  sure  to  be  kept  by  the  power  of  God  unto  salva- 
tion, whence  they  shall  enjoy  their  purchased  possession,  they 
being  engraven  upon  the  palms  of  His  hands,  and  their  name 
having  been  written  in  the  book  of  life  from  all  eternity. 
This  perseverance  of  the   saints  depends  not  upon  their  own 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  133 

free  will,  but  upon  the  immutability  of  the  decree  of  election, 
flowing  from  the  free  and  unchangeable  love  of  God  the  Father, 
upon  the  efficacy  and  merit  and  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  union  with  Him,  the  oath  of  God,  the  abiding  of  His  Spirit, 
and  the  seed  of  God  within  them,  and  the  nature  of  the  cove- 
nant of  grace  ;  from  all  which  ariseth  also  the  certainty  and 
infallibility  thereof.  3.  And  though  they  may,  through  the 
temptation  of  Satan  and  of  the  world,  the  prevalency  of  cor- 
ruption remaining  in  them,  and  the  neglect  of  the  means  of 
their  preservation,  fall  into  grievous  sin,  and  for  a  time  con- 
tinue therein,  whereby  they  incur  God's  displeasure,  and  grieve 
His  Holy  Spirit,  come  to  have  their  graces  and  comforts 
impaired,  have  their  hearts  hardened,  and  their  consciences 
wounded,  hurt  and  scandalize  others,  and  bring  temporal 
judgments  upon  themselves,  yet  they  shall  renew  their  repent- 
ance, and  be  preserved,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  to 
the  end." 

There  is  an  appendix  to  the  Assembly's  Confession,  entirely 
devoted  to  a  more  careful  examination  of  the  arguments  com- 
monly advanced  in  favour  of  infant  baptism.  The  Confession 
itself  has  been  frequently  reprinted  since  its  endorsement  by 
the  Assembly  in  1689,  and  four  years  after  that  date  it  was 
"ordered  to  be  translated  into  Latin  with  all  convenient  speed  ;" 
but  it  is  not  known  whether  this  was  actually  done. 

The  Somerset  Confession. 

A  brief  Confession  was  published  in  1691  by  some  churches 
in  Somerset,  and  the  neighbouring  counties.  It  consists  of 
twenty-seven  articles,  and  agrees,  in  all  material  points,  with 
Grantham's  Confession.  The  original  title  is,  "  A  Short  Con- 
fession, or  a  Brief  Narrative  of  Faith."  In  the  introduction 
they  say,  "  It  is  not  for  any  ambition  of  our  attainments  above 
others,  neither  for  want  of  understanding  that  there  has 
been  sufficient  said  to  these  things  already,  by  such  pens  as 
we  prefer  and  honour,  as  being  far  more  able  to  set  forth  the 


i34  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


great  truths  of  the  Gospel  than  ourselves.  Neither  do  we 
hereby  pretend  to  be  bringing  forth  new  things,  but  to  bear  our 
testimony  to  the  faith  once  delivered  to  the  saints,  in  which  we 
trust,  through  grace,  we  are  established  ;  but  our  reasons  why 
we  thus  publish  are, — (1)  We  are,  on  these  articles  of  faith,  united 
together  as  one  people  to  worship  and  serve  God,  with  one  mind 
and  consent  (until  we  see  just  cause  to  relinquish),  holily  and 
resolvedly,  in  the  strength  of  the  Lord,  to  persevere  thereunto 
to  the  end.  (2)  Because  we  are  looked  upon  as  a  people  dege- 
nerated from  almost  all  other  baptized  congregations,  at  least 
in  other  parts  of  our  nation ;  so  that  they  arc  not  only  unfree, 
but  are  even  afraid  to  have  any  affinity  with  us  in  the  work, 
worship,  and  service  of  the  Lord ;  which  did  incline  us  to 
appear  in  public  after  this  manner,  to  give  a  short  account  of 
our  faith  in  the  great  things  of  the  Gospel ;  so  that,  if  possible, 
we  may  have  more  acquaintance,  acceptance,  and  fellowship 
with  those  churches  of  Jesus  Christ  that  we  believe  are  one 
with  us  in  the  most  material  things  of  the  Gospel,  both  rela- 
ting to  matters  of  faith  and  practice,  who,  it  may  be,  do  carry 
themselves  strange  for  want  of  right  understanding  of  our 
faith.  But  if,  when  all  is  done,  it  do  not  answer  the  end  for 
which  it  is  intended,  but  we  must  notwithstanding  be  looked 
upon  as  a  bye-people,  to  be  rejected,  or  laid  aside,  we  trust  we 
shall  keep  close  to  the  Lord  in  the  things  that  we  at  present 
understand,  until  we  are  by  some  divine  authority  convinced 
of  some  religious  mistakes  therein,  &c. ;  and  now  we  shall 
proceed  to  explain  ourselves  by  those  brief  articles  of  faith 
following." 

In  the  fourth  article  on  "  the  extent  of  the  death  of  Christ," 
the  Confession  declares,  "  Concerning  the  extent  of  the  death 
of  our  dear  Redeemer  we  believe,  that  suitably  to  the  great 
end  of  God  the  Father  in  sending  Him  into  the  world,  He  gave 
Himself  a  ransom  for  all  mankind,  for  the  world,  the  whole 
world,  and  that  thereby  there  is  a  way  of  reconciliation, 
acceptation,  and  salvation  opened  to  all  men  ;  from  whence  we 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  135 

conclude,  that  if  any  man  came  short  of  obtaining  reconcilia- 
tion, acceptation,  and  salvation,  it  is  not  for  want  of  grace  in 
the  Father,  nor  a  sacrifice  in  the  Son." 

In  the  article  on  "  God's  decrees,"  the  Confession  says,  "that 
the  Word  of  God  is  God's  decreed  will,  and  that  there  is  no 
secret  or  decreed  will  in  God,  contrary  to  His  revealed  Word 
and  will ;  "  "  that  whatever  God  absolutely  decrees  will  come 
to  pass ;  but  that  many  things  that  do  come  to  pass  are  not 
decreed  of  God.  ...  It  might  suit  the  nature  of  the  devil,  or 
wicked  men,  to  decree  wickedness;  but  far  be  it  from  the 
righteous  God  so  to  do.  Shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the  earth 
do  right?"  And  in  the  article  on  "election,"  after  repeating 
the  words  of  the  Assembly's  Confession,  and  declaring  that  they 
do  not  hold  this  doctrine,  but  "  that  the  infinitely  wise  and  holy 
God,  suitable  to  His  name  and  nature,  did  elect  and  choose 
unto  Himself  from  all  eternity,  and  (merely  of  His  own  good 
pleasure),  out  of  the  whole  body  and  bulk  of  mankind,  an 
entire  species  or  sort  of  men,  namely,  those  that  in  time  do 
believe  and  sincerely  obey  Him,  patiently  continuing  in  the  way 
of  well  doing  to  the  end  ;  "  that,  moreover,  "  this  election  is  in 
Christ  Jesus,  of  God's  eternal  purpose  and  grace,  before  the 
foundation  of  the  world,"  and  "  extends  to  the  whole  number 
of  the  godly  in  all  nations,  throughout  all  ages,  under  the 
various  dispensations  under  which  they  live." 

It  does  not  appear  what  was  the  result  of  this  desire  for 
closer  union  with  other  Baptists,  or  whether  the  authors  of 
this  Confession  were  still  thought  to  be  a  "  b}re-people ; "  but 
Adam  Taylor  says  that  the  Confession  itself  was  not  much 
known  in  other  parts  of  the  kingdom. 

Besides  the  various  public  expositions  of  Baptist  opinion  in 
the  Seventeenth  Century  already  mentioned,  there  were  others 
published  by  private  individuals,  or  for  the  use  of  particular 
congregations.  John  Bunyan's  and  Vavasour  Powell's  are 
illustrations  of  the  first ;  the  Confessions  of  the  Keachs,  father 
and   son,    are   illustrations    of   the    second.     When  Benjamin 


136  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  PI  I  STORY. 


Keach  published  his  short  Confession  in  1697,  for  the  special 
use  of  the  congregation  at  Horsley  Down.  Among  other 
reasons  assigned  for  its  issue  is  this — that  the  larger  Con- 
fession was  out  of  print.  He  adds  to  his  abridged  version 
a  brief  treatise  on  "the  true  glory  of  a  church  and  its  dis- 
cipline." The  Confession  published  by  his  son,  Elias  Keach, 
for  the  use  of  the  congregation  meeting  at  Tallow  Chandlers' 
Hall,  on  Dowgate  Hill,  is  similar  to  the  father's,  except  in 
the  preface  and  dedications. 

It  only  remains  for  us  now  to  notice  the  brief 

Articles  of  Religion 

agreed  upon  by  the  first  "  Assembly  of  Free-grace  General 
Baptists,"  in  June,  1770.  They  are  rather  a  declaration  of 
their  views  on  those  points  which  had  been  the  chief  subjects 
of  difference  between  themselves  and  the  older  branch  of  the 
General  Baptists,  than  a  full  Confession  of  Faith.  We  give 
the  articles  entire  : — 

"  1.  On  the  fall  of  man. — We  believe  that  man  was  made 
upright  in  the  image  of  God,  free  from  all  disorder,  natural 
and  moral ;  capable  of  obeying  perfectly  the  will  and  com- 
mand of  God  his  Maker ;  yet  capable  also  of  sinning  :  which 
he  unhappily  did,  and  thereby  laid  himself  under  the  Divine 
curse ;  which,  wo  think,  could  include  nothing  less  than  the 
mortality  of  the  body  and  the  eternal  punishment  of  the  soul. 
His  nature  also  became  depraved,  his  mind  defiled,  and  the 
powers  of  his  soul  weakened — that  both  he  was,  and  his  pos- 
terity are,  captives  of  Satan  till  set  at  liberty  by  Christ. 

"  2.  On  the  nature  and  perjietual  obligation  of  the  moral 
laWm — We  believe  that  the  moral  law  not  only  extends  to  the 
outward  actions  of  life,  but  to  all  the  powers  and  faculties 
of  the  mind,  to  every  desire,  temper,  and  thought ;  that  it 
demands  an  entire  devotion  of  all  the  powers  and  faculties  of 
both  body  and  soul  to  God ;  or,  in  our  Lord's  words,  '  To 
love  the  Lord  with  all  our  heart,  mind,  soul,  and  strength;' 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  137 

that  this  law  is  of  perpetual  duration  and  obligation,  to  all  men, 
at  all  times,  and  in  all  places  or  parts  of  the  world.  And  we 
suppose  that  this  law  was  obligatory  to  Adam  in  his  perfect 
state — was  more  clearly  revealed  in  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  more  fully  explained  in  many  other  parts  of  the  Bible. 

u  3.  On  the  person  and  work  of  Christ. — We  believe  that  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  God  and  man  united  in  one  Person ;  or 
possessed  of  Divine  perfection  united  to  human  nature,  in 
a  way  which  we  pretend  not  to  explain,  but  think  ourselves 
bound  by  the  Word  of  God  firmly  to  believe  :  that  He  suffered 
to  make  a  full  atonement  for  all  the  sins  of  all  men,  and 
thereby  He  has  wrought  out  for  us  a  complete  salvation,  which 
is  received  by,  and  as  a  free  gift  communicated  to,  all  that 
believe  in  Him,  without  the  consideration  of  any  works  done 
by  us  in  order  to  entitle  us  to  this  salvation  :  though  we 
firmly  believe  that  no  faith  is  the  means  of  justification  but 
that  which  produces  good  works. 

"4.  On  salvation  by  faith. — We  believe  that  as  this  salva- 
tion is  held  forth  to  all  to  whom  the  Gospel  revelation  comes, 
without  exception,  we  ought,  in  the  course  of  our  ministry, 
to  propose  or  offer  this  salvation  to  all  those  who  attend  our 
ministry ;  and  having  opened  to  them  their  ruined,  wretched 
state  by  nature  and  practice,  to  invite  all,  without  exception, 
to  look  to  Christ  by  faith  without  regard  to  anything  in,  or 
done  by,  themselves ;  that  they  may,  in  this  way  alone,  that 
is,  by  faith,  be  possessed  of  this  salvation. 

"  5.  On  regeneration  by  the  Holy  Spirit. — We  believe  that, 
as  the  Scriptures  assure  us,  we  are  justified,  made  the  children 
of  God,  purified  and  sanctified  by  faith;  that  when  a  person 
comes  to  believe  in  Jesus  (and  not  before),  he  is  regenerated, 
or  renewed  in  his  soul  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Word,  now  believed  and  embraced ; 
which  renewal  of  his  soul  naturally  produces  holiness  in  heart 
and  life ;  that  this  holiness  is  the  means  of  preparing  us  for 
the  enjoyments  and  employments  of  the  heavenly  world,  and 


138  BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


of  preserving  in  our  souls  a  comfortable  sense  of  our  interest 
in  the  Lord,  and  of  our  title  to  glory,  as  well  as  to  set  a  good 
example  before  men,  and  to  recommend  our  blessed  Redeemer's 
cause  to  the  world. 

"  G.  On  baptism. — We  believe  that  it  is  the  indispensable 
duty  of  all  who  repent  and  believe  the  Gospel,  to  be  baptized 
by  immersion  in  water,  in  order  to  be  initiated  into  a  church 
state ;  and  that  no  person  ought  to  be  received  into  the  Church 
without  submission  to  this  ordinance." 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PUBLIC  DISPUTATIONS   ON   BAPTISM. 


BAPTISTS  have  been  compelled  to  be  controversialists. 
Their  position,  among  all  the  varieties  of  Christian 
belief,  is  solitary  and  peculiar ;  and  on  them,  therefore,  is 
rightly  thrown  the  burden  of  proof.  Nor  have  they  ever  shown 
any  reluctance  to  accept  the  responsibilities  of  their  position. 
But  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  when  they  started  afresh  into 
such  prominence  in  England,  there  were  many  other  reasons 
than  their  isolated  position  for  taking  up  the  weapons^  of  con- 
troversy— they  were  misunderstood,  misrepresented,  defamed  ; 
the  most  frivolous  and  the  most  scandalous  charges  were  made 
against  them  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press  ;  they  were  literally 
"the  sect  everywhere  spoken  against."  Episcopalians,  Presby- 
terians, Brownists,  Independents,  much  as  they  might  differ 
from  each  other,  all  agreed  amazingly  in  this — their  denuncia- 
tion of  the  Baptists. 

Various  methods  were  adopted  for  removing  this  general  dis- 
like, and  answering  the  wicked  accusations  made  against  them. 
They  issued  pamphlets  in  defence  of  their  opinions.  They 
subscribed  to  numerous  Confessions  of  Faith.  They  were  ready, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  to  meet  their  opponents.  They 
challenged  them  to  public  disputations ;  now  in  London,  now 
in  the  country.  Ordinary  buildings  proved  too  small  and  in- 
convenient for  the  excited  and  eager  crowds  who  attended  these 


140  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


disputations  ;  and  the  largest  accommodation  being  afforded  by 
the  parish  church,  to  the  parish  church  they  commonly  hurried. 
The  occasion  of  these  discussions  was  often  the  fierce  opposition 
of  local  clergymen,  but  was  sometimes  the  uneasy  consciences 
on  the  subject  of  baptism  of  some  members  of  their  congrega- 
tions. The  victory,  as  in  all  such  public  discussions,  was 
usually  claimed  by  both  sides.  The  disputations  themselves 
illustrate  the  habits  and  the  ferment  of  a  former  age. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  most  of  the  reports  of  these  public 
debates  are  from  the  pens  of  opponents.  There  were  no  news- 
paper reporters  in  those  days;  but  some  friend  of  the  disputants 
dotted  down  a  few  rough  notes  during  the  debate,  which  were 
afterwards  filled  up  from  memory.  Large  room  was,  therefore, 
left  for  partiality  and  unfairness.  In  some  cases  the  opponents 
of  the  Baptists  not  only  published  these  one-sided  versions  of 
the  debates,  but  enriched  or  disfigured  them  by  marginal  com- 
mentaries ;  one  of  them  thought  to  secure  wider  success  for 
his  cause  by  publishing,  with  his  report,  a  scandalous  frontis- 
piece in  which  fifteen  different  sorts  of  Anabaptists  are  sup- 
posed to  be  depicted. 

The  history  of  all  the  public  disputes  between  the  Baptists 
and  their  opponents,  from  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  to  the 
Restoration  of  Charles  the  Second,  would  alone  fill  a  bulky 
volume.  But  these  only  represent  a  tithe  of  the  discussions 
which  have  been  held.  An  account  of  some  of  the  most  famous 
debates  will  illustrate  the  rest.  Perhaps  the  most  notorious 
was  one  of  the  earliest.     This  dispute  was  held  with 

Dr.  Daniel  Featley,  in  Southwark. 

The  only  account  of  it  which  has  come  down  to  us  is 
supplied  by  the  doctor's  own  book,  entitled,  The  Dippers  dipt : 
or,  the  Anabaptists  duck'd  and  plung'd  over  head  and  eais,  at  a 
Disputation  in  Southwark.  Together  with  a  large  and  full  Dis- 
course  of  their  original,    several    sorts,    peculiar    errors,    high 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  141 

attempts  against  the  State,  cap itall punishments,  with  an  applica- 
tion to  these  times.     London  1645. 

The  scene  of  the  dispute  was  "  somewhere  in  Southwark;  " 
but  where,  does  not  appear.  Most  probably,  however,  it  was 
in  the  parish  church.  Sir  John  Lenthall  was  present,  "  with 
many  knights,  ladies,  and  gentlemen."  There  were  also  not 
a  few  of  the  illiterate  people  on  whom  Dr.  Featley  looked  down 
with  such  bitter  disdain,  people  who  were  then  being  stirred 
into  great  excitement  by  other  matters  besides  those  in  dispute. 
The  discussion  was  held  in  the  year  that  Charles  the  First  had 
broken  with  his  Parliament.  Two  months  before  it  began  the 
royal  standard  was  unfurled  at  Nottingham,  and  a  week  after  it 
had  closed  Charles  fought  his  first  battle. 

The  disputants  can  hardly  be  regarded  as  fairly  matched. 
Featley  was  already  a  veteran  debater.     He  was  now  sixty- 
two  ;  and  had  long  before  won  his  spurs  in  various  encounters 
with    the   Jesuits   in    Paris,    when    chaplain   to   the   English 
ambassador.     The  wily  followers  of  Ignatius  Loyola,  so  Dr. 
Featley's  most  intimate  friend  assures  us,  "  contemned  him  for 
ihat  he  was   low  of  stature,  yet   admired  him  for  his  ready 
answers  and  shrewd  distinctions."    During  his  residence  in  the 
French  capital  he  had  not  only  converted  "  a  Spanish  Frier," 
but  had  earned   for  himself  a  great  reputation  as  a  polemic. 
Featley's  name  was  to  be  found  on  the  tables  hung  up  in  Conti- 
nental seminaries,  and  was  bracketed  with  the  great  school- 
men Bonaventura,  Duns  Scotus,  Aquinas,  and  others.     If  the 
first  was  styled  "  the  Seraphic,"  the  second  "  the  Subtle,"  and 
the  third  "the  Angelic,"  Featley  was  known  as  "the  Sagacious 
and  Ardent."     It  is  also  cheering  to  know  that,  despite  his 
vilification  of  the  Baptists,  his  friend  of  "  thirty- seven  years' 
duration,"  had  found  him  "  meek,  gracious,  affable,  merciful." 
The  opponents  of  Featley  were  four  Baptists,  one  of  whom 
the  Doctor  calls  "  a  Scotchman,"  and  the  other   "  Cuffin."     It 
is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  last  was  William  Kifiin,  who 
had  now  been  for  two  years  pastor  of  Devonshire-square  chapel, 


42  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


London.  Of  the  other  disputants  we  have  no  information. 
Kiffin  was  a  vigorous  young  man  of  six-and-thirty,  who  had  yet 
fifty-nine  years  of  pastoral  and  chequered  life  before  him. 

"  The  company  being  placed,  Dr.  Featley  made  a  short  ejacu- 
latory  prayer  to  God  to  give  a  blessing  to  the  meeting."  The 
Scotchman  opened  the  debate.  "  Master  Doctor  " — (perhaps 
he  did  not  know  he  was  "  acutissimus  acerrimusque,"  or  he 
would  have  given  him  his  full  honours) — ''Master  Doctor; 
we  come  to  dispute  with  you  at  this  time,  not  for  contention's 
sake,  but  to  receive  satisfaction.  We  hold,  that  the  baptism 
of  infants  cannot  be  proved  lawful  by  the  testimony  of  Scrip- 
ture, or  by  Apostolical  tradition.  If  you,  therefore,  can  prove 
the  same  either  way,  we  shall  willingly  submit  unto  you." 
The  doctor  feigns  surprise  at  this  simple  question.  "  Are  you, 
then,  Anabaptists  ?  I  am  deceived  in  my  expectations.  I 
thought  the  end  of  this  meeting  had  been  to  have  reasoned 
with  you  about  other  matters,  and  that  my  task  would  have 
been  to  have  justified  our  Communion  Book,  and  the  lawful- 
ness and  necessity  of  coming  to  church,  which  I  am  ready  to 
do.  Anabaptism,  (which  I  perceive  is  the  point  you  hold,)  is 
a  heresy  long  since  condemned  both  by  the  Greek  and  Latin 
Church."  After  this  declaration  the  "sagacious  and  ardent" 
polemic  insults  his  opponents  before  he  has  tried  their  calibre, 
by  adding,  "I  could  have  wished  also  that  ye  had  brought 
scholars  with  you,  who  knew  how  to  dispute,  which  I  conceive 
you  do  not,  so  far  as  I  can  guess  by  your  habit  [dress] ,  and 
am  informed  concerning  your  professions.  For  there  are  but 
two  ways  of  disputing  :  by  authority,  and  by  reason."  If  they 
elect  the  first  method,  the  doctor  tells  them  that  they  must  be 
prepared  to  produce  the  Scriptures  in  the  original  languages  ; 
since  "  translations  are  not  authentical,"  because  they  contain 
errors,  and  "  in  the  undoubted  Word  of  God  there  can  be  no 
error."  This  production  of  the  original  Scriptures,  he  inti- 
mates, is  out  of  the  question,  since  none  of  them  understand 
either  Greek  or  Hebrew.     If  they  elect  the  second  method. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  143 


they  are  no  better  off.  He  will  have  them,  in  that  case, 
"  conclude  syllogistically,  in  mood  and  figure,  which,"  he 
adds,  "  I  take  to  be  out  of  your  element." 

The  doctor  now  expresses  his  desire, — since  they  had 
earnestly  sought  this  meeting,  "  and  are  so  well  conceited  of 
themselves  that  they  take  upon  them  to  teach  others," — to 
put  them  through  their  catechism.  He  begins  by  asking  the 
Scotchman  some  questions  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity;  and 
informs  us,  in  his  marginal  comments  on  his  own  answer, 
"  The  venturous  Scotchman  was  so  stunned  with  this  blow, 
that  he  gave  in,  and  spake  no  more  for  a  good  space."  The 
doctor's  keen  eyes  observed,  however,  "that  he  wrote  some- 
thing, and  gave  it  to  some  there  present." 

Mr.  Kiffin  now  speaks  ;  "  declares,"  says  Featley,  that  "  he 
has  not  come  to  dispute,  but  to  receive  satisfaction  of  some 
doubts,  which,  if  the  doctor  can  answer  him,  he  shall  submit." 
"  This  Cuffin,"  adds  the  marginal  note,  "is  said  to  be  one  of 
the  first  that  subscribed  to  the  Anabaptist  Confession,  printed 
in  1644."  But  neither  Kiffin' s  answers  nor  the  Scotchman's 
please  Sir  John  Lenthall,  who  breaks  in  upon  the  discussion 
to  "bid  the  doctor  resolve  the  doubts  himself;"  when  Featley 
avows  that  his  sole  purpose  in  putting  his  questions  was,  "  to 
make  it  appear  to  the  auditors  how  unfit  these  men  were 
to  take  upon  them  the  office  of  teacher,"  since  they  were  "  so 
imperfect  in  the  fundamental  points  of  Catechism." 

Kiffin,  taking  advantage  of  the  doctor's  invitation,  "to  pro- 
pound what  question  he  pleased,"  asks — "What  is  the  nature 
of  a  visible  Church  ? — what,  the  matter  and  form  of  it  ? — or 
what  the  visible  Church  of  Christ  made  up  of,  by  authority 
of  the  Scripture?"  evidently  seeking  to  bring  the  debate  back 
again  to  its  original  purpose.  The  doctor  replies,  "  The 
Protestant  Church  has  but  two  '  notes,'  and  both  are  found  in 
the  Church  of  England,  namely,  (1)  the  sincere  preaching  of 
the  Word,  and  (2)  the  due  administration  of  the  Sacraments." 
Kiffin  contends  that  neither  of  these  are  discernible,  and  denies 


144  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

that  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer 
are  agreeable  to  God's  Word.  Featley  even  makes  him  say, 
that  he  (Kiffin)  had  "  never  seen  the  Thirty-nine  Articles,  and 
knew  not  what  they  were!" — a  statement  as  incredible  as  it 
is  audacious. 

Again  the  volatile  doctor  is  brought  back  to  the  chief  point 
of  the  debate,  "whether  baptism  can  be  rightly  administered, 
agreeable  to  God's  Word,  if  given  to  children;"  but  while  he 
was  on  the  point  of  proving  it,  "out  of  Scripture,"  "another 
Anabaptist  interposed  with  a  question,  whether  the  Church  of 
England  was  a  true  Church,  since  she  compelled  men  to  come 
to  her,  and  persecuted  those  who  refused  to  come."  Featley 
quotes  the  example  of  King  Josiah  to  prove  that  kings  ought 
to  "compel  their  subjects  in  matters  religious,"  and  "so  blankt 
this  third  Anabaptist,  that,  to  save  his  credit,  he  started  up 
another  question,"  to  which  the  doctor  replied  syllogistically, 
and  was  instantly  answered  by  "the  blankt  Anabaptist:" 
"  But  the  Word  of  God  does  not  command  us  to  come  to 
your  steeple-houses,  and  the  King  hath  nothing  to  do  to  com- 
mand us  in  this  kind."  Again  Featley  answers  by  a  syllogism  : 
*'  The  King  hath  power  to  command  you  in  all  things  that  are 
lawful ;  it  is  lawful,  and  noways  repugnant  to  God's  Word, 
but  most  agreeable  thereunto,  to  come  to  our  steeple-houses, 
as  you  call  them  ;  therefore,  the  King  hath  power  to  command 
you  to  come  to  our  Church."  The  Baptist  declares  he  (the 
doctor)  makes  an  idol  of  the  church ;  but  assures  him  that  if 
"  one  of  our  society  should  preach  in  Olaves,  or  Mary  Overis 
Church,  he  (the  Baptist)  would  hear  him." 

This  is  construed  by  Featley  into  "  the  Anabaptist  yielding 
his  buckler,  namely,  that  the  magistrate  ought  to  be  obeyed, 
when  he  commanded  men  to  hear  God's  Word  in  the  church  !  " 

The  debate  now  wanders  off  to  the  question — whether  the 
Baptists  or  the  Church  of  England  have  true  pastors  ? — Featley 
contending  that  since  the  Anabaptists  have  no  sending,  no 
calling,   no  imposition  of   hands    upon    them,    they   had   not 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  145 

lawful  pastors  ;  and  one  of  the  Baptists  declaring  that,  "  none 
among  us  teach  but  they  have  ordination,  for  they  are  elected, 
examined,  and  proved  ;  "  but  if  the  doctor  wishes  to  know 
whether  they  have  imposition  of  hands,  "  if  he  will  come  to 
his  (the  Baptist's)  church,  he  will  see  for  himself." 

Kiffin  grows  impatient  at  the  frequent  digressions  of  Featley, 
and  says,  "  I  pray  you,  Master  Doctor,  come  to  the  point ; 
how  prove  you  the  baptism  of  children  to  be  lawful  by  the 
Word  of  God  ?  "  A  little  more  skirmishing  on  Featley's  part 
follows  this  distinct  and  definite  question,  and  at  length  he 
affirms  that  "  the  Scripture  proofs  are  of  two  sorts  :  some  pro- 
bable, some  necessary."  The  "probable"  are,  the  baptisms 
of  households;  and  the  "necessary,"  circumcision  and  the 
declaration,  that  except  men  are  born  of  the  water  and  the 
Spirit,  they  cannot  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Kiffin 
reminds  the  doctor  that  "men"  are  here  spoken  of,  not  chil- 
dren ;  and  the  Scotchman  suggests,  that,  according  to  Featley's 
showing,  only  children  baptized  are  saved.  Featley  accepts 
both  conclusions,  but  says,  in  regard  to  Kiffin's  objection, 
"  that  in  Christ  there  is  no  difference  of  age  or  sex,"  and  in 
answer  to  the  Scotchman's,  "that  the  children  of  the  faithful 
are  holy"  (1  Cor.  vii.  14),  and  therefore  they  enter  heaven. 
The  last  reply  did  not  satisfy  one  of  the  Baptists,  and  he 
instantly  put  in,  "  But  the  Apostle  meaneth,  that  such  are 
not  bastards,  at  which,"  says  Featley,  "  the  company  laughing, 
as  a  ridiculous  answer." 

Another  opponent  now  appears,  an  Anabaptist  who  has 
caught  the  doctor's  trick  of  syllogizing,  and  who  boldly  denies 
that  either  Featley,  or  others  like  him,  ought  to  preach.  "  They 
that  persecute  good  men  are  ungodly  men,"  says  this  fourth 
disputant ;  "but  all  your  bishops  persecute  good  men  ;  there- 
fore, the  bishops  are  ungodly  men."  The  doctor  claims  that 
at  least  two  bishops  did  not  deserve  that  censure,  the  primate  of 
Ireland,  and  Bishop  of  Potter ;  but  the  Baptist  declares,  that 
when  he  himself  was  dragged  before  the  High  Commission,  the 

L 


146  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

Irish  primate  "  sate  there,  and  by  his  silence  gave  consent." 
Featley  wriggled  out  of  this  home-thrust  by  saying,  u  that  the 
Archbishop  of  Armagh,  had  no  power  to  give  sentence  in  the 
High  Commission  of  England,  and  if  he  (the  doctor)  truly  knew 
for  what  cause  the  Anabaptist  had  been  brought  up  before  the 
High  Commission,  he  had  no  doubt  he  should  be  able  to  prove 
that  the  sentence  was  just,  "  since  you  are  one  of  those  who 
do  not  come  to  church,  and  will  not  hear  our  preachers,  but 
only  some  of  your  own  sect,  and  those  no  better  than  mere 
laymen." 

The  debate  here  turns  upon  the  question  of  lay  preaching, 
the  Baptist  contending  that  the  division  of  people  into  laymen 
and  clergymen  is  Popish  ;  that  the  seven  deacons  of  the  church 
at  Jerusalem  all  preached,  and  yet  they  were  all  what  the 
Popish  Church  called  laymen.  To  this  Featley  replies,  that 
neither  the  word  "  Trinity,  sacrament,  nor  other  like  terms," 
were  in  the  Scriptures,  "  yet  the  sense  of  them  is  there,"  and 
so  is  the  distinction  of  clergy  and  laity  ;  that  the  law  was  to 
be  learnt  from  the  priest's  mouth  ;  "  and  that  his  own  priest- 
hood, and  that  of  his  brethren,  was  the  same  in  substance, 
"  but  not  for  ceremony  and  manner  of  worship  ;  "  and  as  for 
the  deacons  of  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  "  they  were  all  men 
upon  whom  the  Apostles  had  laid  their  hands."  "Prove," 
said  he,  triumphantly,  "prove  that  any  preached  who  had 
not  imposition  of  hands."  To  this  Kiffin  replied  by  quoting 
the  passage  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  which  describes  how 
"  they  that  were  scattered  abroad  went  everywhere,  preaching 
the  word,"  and  preaching,  not  without  great  effect;  and  that 
Peter  had  also  declared  (1  Pet.  iv.  10),  "  as  every  man  hath 
received  the  spirit,  even  so  minister  the  same  one  to  another, 
as  good  stewards  of  the  manifold  grace  of  God."  Kiffin  adds 
to  this  reply,  "  If  God  have  given  us  a  talent,  it  is  our  duty 
to  improve  it." 

Featley  rejoins,  that  all  the  men  scattered  abroad,  were 
11  such  as  the  Apostles  had  laid  hands  on  ;  "   and  that  Peter's 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  147 

words  refer  not  to  public  teaching  and  preaching,  but  to  private 
admonition,  "  such  as  every  godly  master  of  a  family  useth  in 
his  house,  instructing  his  children  and  his  servants  the  best 
that  he  can."  But  he  concludes  the  point  in  dispute  by  ending 
with  this  remark  :  "  It  is  true,  in  time  of  persecution,  we  read 
of  one  Frumentius,  a  layman,  who,  in  his  travels  converted 
some  to  the  Christian  faith,  confirming  the  truth  of  the 
Christian  religion  by  the  Scriptures."  "  That,"  said  Kiffin, 
"is  all  we  desire  to  do."  But  Featley  was  "sagacious,"  if 
he  were  also  "  ardent ;  "  and  he  therefore  instantly  replies,  that 
"  that  was  no  preaching  publicly  by  virtue  of  a  pastoral  function 
or  expounding  Scripture."  It  is  hard  to  see  what  else  it  was  ; 
and  the  fact  that  the  bishops  afterwards  sent  ministers  to  reap 
the  fruit  of  the  labours  of  Frumentius,  or,  as  Featley  expresses 
it,  "  to  accomplish  that  work  which  he  had  so  happily  begun," 
does  not  alter  the  character  of  his  preaching. 

Further  discussion  follows  on  the  question  of  public  and 
private  worship,  and  the  value  of  the  G-eneva  version  or  the 
King's  translation,  during  which  Featley  states  two  reasons 
against  lay  preaching: — (1)  "None  ought  to  take  upon  them 
the  office  of  pastor,  or  minister  of  the  Word,  who  are  not  able 
to  reprove  and  convince  heretics  and  all  gainsayers,  a  thing 
that  lay  preachers  are  unable  to  do  from  then  ignorance  of  the 
original  Scriptures ;  and  (2)  Since  the  office  of  a  minister  is 
a  holy  office,  none  may  meddle  with  it  but  those  that  have  a 
lawful  calling  thereunto,"  the  last  point  being  supported  by  the 
judgments  upon  Korah,  Dathan,  and  Abiram,  upon  Uzzah, 
Uzziah,  and  the  husbandmen  and  herdsmen  whoni  the  Prophet 
Zechariah  reproved.  "  So  you  artificers  may  be  ashamed  of 
your  prophesying,  and  say,  '  I  am  a  tradesman  ;  I  am  no 
prophet;  men  taught  me  to  exercise  a  handicraft  from  my 
youth.'  " 

It  is  now  Kiffin's  turn  to  speak,  since  this  last  arrow  was 
levelled  at  him.  "Being  angry  at  this,"  says  Featley,  he 
said,  "  Master  Doctor,  I  am  more  lawfully  called  to  preach  the 

l2 


148  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


Word  than  you,  and  that  I  will  prove  by  Scripture."  To 
which  Featley,  with  equal  ill-temper,  rejoined,  "  You  will  have 
a  hard  task  of  it,  for  neither  my  name  nor  yours  are  found  in 
Scripture,  neither  is  there  any  colour  in  all  God's  Word  for 
any  layman's  preaching,  much  less  for  such  an  illiterate  arti- 
ficer as  you  are."  Kiffin  next  charges  the  bishops  with  living 
in  known  sin,  and  Featley  retorts  by  referring  to  a  scandal 
which  had  recently  occasioned  trouble  in  the  Devonshire- square 
church,  and  appealing  to  Kiffin  whether  he  was  not  himself  in 
the  habit  of  asking  God's  forgiveness  for  sins  of  conscience 
and  ignorance,  or  whether  he  had  not  idle  thoughts  of  earthly 
lusts  and  desires  ?  Of  course  Kiffin,  as  an  honest  man,  con- 
fessed that  he  had ;  but  contended  that  that  was  not  approving 
of  known  sin.  Featley  asserts]that  "  the  learned,  grave,  and  reli- 
gious bishop,"  b)'  whom  he  himself  had  been  ordained,  "  died 
without  spot  or  stain" ;  and  thinking  of  him  he  was  prompted 
to  say  to  Kiffin,  "  I  cannot  sufficiently  admire  [wonder  at] 
your  boldness;"  to  which  Kiffin  replied,  that  "whosoever  the 
bishop  was,  he  was  but  a  particular  man ;  and  Christ  gave  the 
power  of  ordaining  to  His  Church,  not  to  any  particular  man." 
The  doctor  answers,  that  after  all,  "  some  particular  men 
ought  to  execute  this  power  of  ordination." 

"  Here,"  says  the  marginal  note,  "it  grew  late,  and  the 
Conference  broke  off."  But,  adds  Featley,  "the  issue  of  the 
Conference  was,"  (mark  the  self-complacency  of  the  doctor), 
"first,  the  Knights,  ladies  and  gentlemen  gave  the  doctor  great 
thanks,"  [privately,  of  course] ;  "secondly,  three  of  the  Ana- 
baptists went  away  discontented,  the  fourth  seemed  in  part 
satisfied,  and  desired  a  second  meeting;  but  the  next  day, 
conferring  with  the  rest  of  that  sect,  he  altered  his  resolution, 
and  neither  he,  nor  any  other  of  that  sect  ever  since  that  day 
troubled  the  doctor,  or  any  other  minister  in  this  borough  with 
a  second  challenge." 

On  reviewing  the  doctor's  own  version  of  the  debate,  it  is 
difficult  to  see  wherein  he   succeeded  in  confounding  his  op- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  149 


ponents.  The  debate  itself  was  not  published  until  two  years 
and  a  quarter  after  it  was  held,  when  other  and  more  exciting 
events  had  well-nigh  obliterated  all  recollection  of  it  from  the 
minds  of  "  the  auditors,"  and  when  the  doctor  himself  was  in 
custody  at  Peter-house,  London,  suspected  by  the  Parliament 
of  being  a  spy.  Shortly  after  his  imprisonment,  another  victim 
was  brought  in,  not  for  being  a  spy,  but  for  daring  to  preach 
againstTinfant  baptism.  This  was  Henry  Denne.  Up  to  this 
time  Denne  had  not  seen  Featley's  version  of  the  dispute,  nor 
his  further  charge  against  the  Baptists  in  the  same  book.  At 
once,  however,  Denne  challenged  Featley  to  debate  with  him 
the  whole  question ;  but  after  going  over  the  first  of  the  ten 
arguments  in  his  work,  Featley  declined  all  further  discussion 
by  word  of  mouth,  on  the  plea  that  it  was  not  safe  to  dispute 
without  a  licence  from  the  Parliament.  He,  nevertheless, 
agreed  to  carry  on  the  controversy  by  writing.  Featley  issued 
his  savage  attack  on  the  Baptists  on  the  10th  of  January,  1644, 
and  in  little  less  than  a  month  Denne's  reply  was  ready,  under 
the  title  of  Antichrist  Unmasked.  Not  long  after,  Samuel 
Richardson  took  up  the  challenge  thrown  down  by  "  the  saga- 
cious and  ardent"  polemic,  and  published  Some  Brief  Con- 
siderations on  Dr.  Featleifs  Book,  in  which  the  doctor  gets  a 
severe  handling.  Richardson's  reply  to  the  chuckle  with  which 
Featley  ends  his  own  very  one-sided  version  of  the  dispute  in 
Southwark  is  as  follows : — "  The  knights  and  ladies  thanked 
him,  but  he  cannot  say  he  deserved  it.  The  Anabaptists  went 
away  discontented  and  grieved.  It  seems  they  were  very  sor- 
rowful to  see  his  great  blindness  and  hardness  of  heart.  He 
saith,  none  of  them  ever  after  that  troubled  him ;  it  seems  they 
could'  do  him  no  good,  and  so  they  resolved  to  leave  him  to 
God,  till  He  should  please  to  open  his  eyes." 

Featley's  great  friend  and  admirer  exultingly  refers  to  "all 
his  sermons  in  a  great  book  in  folio,"  to  his  "  supplement  to 
Sir  Humphrey  Linde's  book;"  to  his  work  against  Arminius, 
and  all  of  his  rabble;"  to  his   "Sea-Gull,  a  tract  against  a 


150  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

gross  imposture  ; "  to  his  "Meditations,"  and  his  "  Handmaid 
to  Devotions ; "  but  he  did  not  foresee  that  his  bosom  friend 
would  hereafter  be  chiefly  remembered  for  "his  book  against 
the  Anabaptists,"  however  "  seasonable  and  necessary "  he 
might  deem  it  "  for  those  unsettled  and  wanton  times."  "As 
Elias,  being  carried  up  in  a  fiery  chariot,  did  let  fall  his  mantle 
from  him  for  Elisha's  comfort  and  behoof;  so,"  says  Dr.  Leo, 
in  his  funeral  oration,  "  our  Featley,  burning  with  zeal  for 
God's  glory,  and  for  the  good  of  His  saints,  hath  left  behind 
him  several  tokens  of  his  learning  and  love  to  divers  friends." : 
The  Baptists,  however,  can  neither  be  reckoned  among  the 
number  of  his  "  friends,"  nor  can  his  legacy  to  them  be 
regarded  as  a  token  of  His  "  love." 

The  year  after  the  Southwark  dispute  Mr.  John  Batt  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Lamb  held  a  public  discussion  at  Tabling,  in 
Essex,  with  three  Pasdobaptists,  Messrs.  Stalham,  Newton,  and 
Gray;  and  Benjamin  Cox  and  Richard  Baxter  held  another  at 
Coventry.  Cox  was  the  son  of  a  bishop,  and  for  some  time 
minister  at  Bedford.  A  number  of  people  in  Coventry  having 
embraced  Baptist  opinions  sent  for  Cox  to  form  them  into  a 
distinct  society.  The  Presbyterians  took  alarm ;  the  pulpits 
in  the  old  city  rang  with  cries  against  the  Anabaptists ; 
and  Baxter,  who  was  then  hiding  in  Coventry,  challenged 
Cox  to  dispute  with  him  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  by 
word  of  mouth  and  by  writing.  Cox  accepted  the  challenge, 
and  worsted  his  antagonist ;  but  no  account  of  the  dispute  is 
preserved  except  by  Baxter.  The  Committee  heard  of  the  dis- 
cussion, and  ordered  Cox  at  once  to  leave  the  city  and  never 
more  to  return.  On  refusing,  he  was  committed  to  Coventry 
goal.  Baxter  was  reflected  upon  at  the  time  for  conniving  at 
this  hard  usage  of  his  opponent,  since  Baxter  was  then  living 


*  A  sermon  preached  at  Lambeth,  April  21,  1615,  at  the  funeral  of  that 
learned  and  polemical  divine,  Daniel  Featley,  Doctor  in  Divinity,  late  preacher 
there.  With  a  short  relation  of  his  life  and  death.  By  William  Leo,  D.D. 
London.  lG-io. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  151 

as  a  friend  in  the  Governor's  house,  had  great  influence  with 
the  Committee,  and  might  have  secured  his  release  by  a  single 
word.  It  is,  however,  only  fair  to  mention  that  Baxter  him- 
self denied  the  charge  of  ever  urging  this  arbitrary  act ;  but 
it  is  plain  enough  that  Baxter  might  have  prevented  the  im- 
prisonment altogether,  if  he  had  been  so  minded.  He  secured 
his  speedy  release  on  being  asked  to  obtain  it  by  Mr.  Pinson. 

The  Presbyterian  party  being  now  in  power,  checked  for 
a  time  the  free  discussion  on  infant  baptism,  but  left  unlimited 
license  to  abuse  the  Baptists  in  the  hands  of  their  ministers. 
One  of  the  most  virulent  and  unscrupulous  of  these  was  the 
man  whom  Milton  styled  "The  shallow  Edwards,"  author  of 
Gangrcena.  He  lectured  in  Christ  Church,  London,  on  Tuesday 
mornings,  and  took  occasion  in  nearly  every  sermon  to  speak 
evil  of  his  Baptist  neighbours.  On  one  occasion  Kiffin  was 
present,  and  smarting  under  the  scurrility  of  the  preacher,  he 
sent  up  to  the  pulpit  the  following  moderate  and  dignified 
letter,  to  which  he  never  received  any  reply: — 

"  To  Mr.  Edwards. 
"  Sir,— 

"You  stand  as  one  professing  yourself  to  be  instructed  of 
Christ,  with  abilities  from  God  to  throw  down  errors,  and 
therefore  to  that  end  do  preach  every  third  day  (Tuesday). 
May  it  therefore  please  you,  and  those  that  employ  you  in 
that  work,  to  give  them  leave  whom  you  so  braved,  as 
publicly  to  object  against  what  you  say  when  your  sermon 
is  ended,  as  you  declare  yourself.  And  we  hope  it  will  be 
an  increase  of  further  light  to  all  that  fear  God,  and  put  a 
large  advantage  into  your  hands,  if  you  have  any  truth  on 
your  side,  to  cause  it  to  shine  with  more  evidence ;  and  I 
hope  we  shall  do  it  with  moderation,  and  as  becometh 
Christians. 

"  Yours, 

"  1646.  "  William  Kiffin." 


52  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

In  the  following  year  a  public  disputation  was  held  in  the 
parish  church  of  Newport  Pagnell.  A  great  company  of 
ministers  and  people  were  present.  Mr.  John  Gibbs  took  the 
side  of  the  Baptists,  and  Mr.  Richard  Carpenter  defended  the 
principles  of  the  Paedobaptists.  Carpenter  published  an  account 
of  the  dispute  under  the  following  title  : — The  Anabaptist  ivasht 
and  uasJit,  and  shrunk  in  the  washing  ;  or  a  Scholastic-all  discus- 
sion of  the  much-agitated  controversy  concerning  Infant  Baptism, 
occasioned  by  a  publick  Disputation,  before  a  great  assembly  of 
Ministers,  and  other  persons  of  worth,  in  the  church  of  Newport 
Pagnell;  betivixt  Mr.  Gibba,  minister  there,  and  the  author, 
Richard  Carpenter,  Independent.  From  Carpenter's  account  of 
the  origin  of  this  discussion  it  is  evident  that  he  had  indulged 
in  many  unneighbourly  and  bitter  remarks  about  Mr.  Gibbs  and 
the  Baptists.  Speaking  of  his  having  "  baptized  a  child,  after 
preaching  in  the  Newport  Pagnell  Church,  before  a  numerous 
auditory,  congealed  and  consisting  of  the  more  solid  and  sapid 
part  of  the  town  and  country;"  he  adds,  "in  the  sober 
performance  of  which  mysterious  work,  the  minister  unsettled 
in  place,  and  (it  seems)  in  person,  professing  for  Anabaptism, 
and  suddenly  rapt  into  a  vertiginous  motion,  interrupted  me; 
and  presently  summoned  me,  by  a  challenge  in  the  face  of  the 
congregation,  to  give  him  and  his  brethren  of  the  Separation, 
a  meeting  there  in  publick,  after  his  twelve  clays'  prepara- 
tion, Parasceve,  to  his  intended  victory."  In  another  place, 
Carpenter  thus-  speaks  of  the  learned  and  conscientious  Mr. 
Gibbs  :  "  This  heady  enthusiast,  having  now  in  his  own  head, 
the  head  of  the  universe,  wras  insooth  sometimes  a  member  of 
the  university,  (for  which  he  did  evaporate  his  grief,  and 
cry  out  in  the  pangs  of  his  inward  remorsement  before  the 
country),  and  had  been  somewhat  vexatious  to  the  Protestant 
ministers  in  the  circle  about  him.  His  friends  and  allies  fixed 
all  their  eyes,  with  all  their  lies,  upon  him  as  the  Carry 
Castle,  or  Behemoth  of  the  country."  Another  specimen  of  the 
style  of  Carpenter's  book  will  suffice.      "Anabaptism,"  says 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  153 


"Carpenter,  "is  not  exempted  from  the  sacred  mysteries  that 
these  are  set  and  rooted  together  as  unclean  creatures,  or 
Creatures.  Lev.  xi.  17.  The  owl,  the  cormorant,  the  great  owl. 
The  little  owl  resembles  the  unbaptized  child  ;  the  great  owl  is 
the  Anabaptist  parent  ;  and  Corvus  Marinus,  the  cormorant 
betwixt  them,  is  the  wide-throated  preacher  that  divides  the 
ehild  from  the  parent,  dives  into  them  and  swallows  their  souls." 

Baxter  and  Tombes,  at  Bewdley. 

In  1649  Richard  Baxter  and  John  Tombes  held  a  public  dis- 
cussion on  baptism  at  Bewdley.  Baxter  was  a  personal  friend 
of  Tombes,  and  had  introduced  him  to  the  church  at  Bewdley, 
some  three  miles  from  Kidderminster.  During  their  residence 
in  London,  Tombes  and  Baxter  had  frequently  conversed  on  the 
subject  of  infant  baptism,  and  Baxter  was  then  so  far  shaken 
in  his  opinions,  that  he  not  only  thought  ^and  spoke  favourably 
-of  Baptists,  but  for  some  time  discontinued  the  practice  of 
infant  baptism.  It  is  needless  to  say  how  entirely  his  mind 
and  conduct  were  afterwards  changed.  Some  of  the  most 
foolish  things  ever  uttered  against  Baptists  came  from  the  lips 
of  Richard  Baxter.  Tombes  had  preached  a  series  of  sermons 
at  Bewdley  on  the  subject  of  baptism,  which  still  occupied  his 
thoughts,  and  some  of  Mr.  Baxter's  friends,  having  walked 
over  to  hear  them,  brought  back  notes  to  the  "painful 
preacher"  at  Kidderminster,  urging  him  to  reply  in  writing  to 
Tombes'  arguments.  Many  letters  now  passed  between  the 
two  friends.  Baxter  says,  rather  tartly,  that  Tombes'  "  doc- 
trine did  not  prevail,  at  least,  not  to  his  desire.  At  this  the 
man  grew  angry ;  and  began  to  charge  it  so  sharply  on  their 
-consciences,  that  the  poor  people  were  much  troubled.  He 
told  them  in  the  pulpit,  that  let  men  budge  it  how  they  would, 
it  was  their  hypocrisy  that  hindered  them  from  receiving  the 
truth."  Referring  to  himself,  Baxter  says,  "  I  perceived  my- 
self in  a  strait,  and  that  my  forbearing  ever  to  preach  for 
infant  baptism,  or  to  baptize  any,  would  not  serve  my  turn  to 


154  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


continue  my  peace."  At  last  Baxter  yielded  to  the  request 
of  his  friends,  and  consented  to  dispute  with  Tombes  in  the 
chapel  at  Bewdley.  They  met  on  the  1st  of  Jan.  1649, 
before  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  Great  crowds  of  people 
from  Kidderminster  and  the  neighbourhood  flocked  to  hear  the 
two  friends  dispute  on  this  much-vexed  question.  Hour  after 
hour  sped  away,  and  yet  the  discussion  still  continued.  It  had 
been  some  time  dark  before  the  debate  was  brought  to  a  close. 
During  the  whole  of  that  wordy  war,  lasting  the  greater  part 
of  the  dull,  cold,  wintry  day,  neither  combatant  had  broken 
his  fast,  so  that  physical  exhaustion  had  a  good  deal  to  do 
with  the  actual  termination  of  the  dispute.  Both  sides  claimed 
the  victory;  but  Wood  declares,  "  That  all  the  scholars  then 
and  there  present,  who  knew  the  way  of  disputing  and 
managing  arguments,  did  conclude  that  Tombes  got  the  better 
of  Baxter  by  far." 

Here  are  a  few  specimens  of  Baxter's  arguments  :  "  (1)  All 
that  are  Christ's  disciples  ordinarily  ought  to  be  baptized ;  but 
some  infants  are  Christ's  disciples,  therefore  some  infants 
ordinarily  ought  to  be  baptized.  .  .  .  (21)  That  doctrine  which 
maketh  all  infants  to  be  members  of  the  visible  kingdom 
of  the  devil,  is  false  doctrine  ;  but  that  doctrine  which 
denieth  any  infant  to  be  a  member  of  the  visible  Church, 
doth  make  them  all  members  of  the  visible  kingdom  of  the 
devil;  therefore  it  is  false.  .  .  .  (23)  If  an  infant  were  head 
of  the  visible  Church,  then  infants  may  be  members;  but 
Christ,  an  infant,  was  head  of  the  Church ;  therefore,  in- 
fants may  be  members." 

Here  also  is  one  of  Baxter's  slanders  :  "  My  seventh  argu- 
ment is  also  against  another  wickedness  in  their  manner  of 
baptizing,  which  is,  their  dipping  persons  naked,  as  is  usual 
with  the  modestest  of  them,  as  I  have  heard.  Against  which 
I  argue  thus  :  If  it  be  a  breach  of  the  seventh  commandment 
(Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery)  ordinarily  to  baptize  naked, 
then  it  is  an  intolerable  wickedness,  and  not  God's  command- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  155 

ment;  but  it  is  a  breach  of  the  seventh  commandment  ordi- 
narily to  baptize  naked  ;  therefore  it  is  intolerable  wickedness, 
and  not  God's  commandment."  The  remarks  he  makes,  in  his 
published  account  of  the  controversy,  about  his  old  friend  and 
neighbour's  loss  of  modesty,  in  baptizing  people  naked,  &c.  &c, 
were  scarcely,  one  would  think,  uttered  to  his  face.  They  are 
the  afterthoughts  of  bitterness,  originating  in  his  conscious 
defeat.  It  can  hardly  be  supposed,  by  the  most  credulous 
believer  in  Baxter,  that  Baxter  really  accepted  this  popular 
calumny  against  the  Baptists,  which  Gangrcena  Edwards  did 
his  very  best  to  circulate. 

Many  other  public  disputes  took  place  during  this  period,  of 
which  we  have  only  the  briefest  record.  Kiffin,  Knollys, 
Pendarvis,  and  many  other  Baptist  worthies,  both  in  London 
and  the  country,  entered  the  lists  in  defence  of  their  opinions. 
The  latter  minister,  the  founder  of  the  church  at  Abingdon, 
from  his  celebrity  and  success  provoked  Dr.  Jasper  Mayne,  of 
Christ's  Church,  Oxford,  who  resided  at  Pyxton,  near  Wat- 
lington,  to  oppose  him  on  the  subject  of  baptism.  A  public 
dispute  was  accordingly  held  between  Pendarvis  and  Dr.  Mayne 
in  the  parish  church  at  Watlington.  "  There  was  present,"  says 
Wood,  "  an  innumerable  company  of  people  on  each  side  ;  but 
through  the  scum  of  the  people,  and  the  party  of  Anabaptists 
who  backed  Pendarvis,  behaving  themselves  insolently,  the 
dispute  came  to  nothing."  Wood  adds,  that  the  Baptists 
printed  this  dispute  to  their  own  advantage ;  but  both  state- 
ments must  be  received  with  caution,  considering  the  animus 
of  the  writer. 

Tombes,  with.  Vaughan  and  Cragge,  at  Abergavenny. 

A  more  notable  dispute  took  place  in  the  same  year (1653). 
Tombes,  who  was  then  vicar  of  Leominster,  was  again  the 
Baptist  champion ;  Hemy  Vaughan,  called  by  his  contem- 
poraries, "The  Silurist,"  and  John  Cragge,  were  his  opponents. 
The  discussion  was  held  in  St.  Mary's  Church,  Abergavenny. 


156  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

The  writer,  who  records  the  discussion,  speaks  in  no  very  com- 
plimentary terms  of  the  Baptists.  "  They  inveigled  the  poor, 
and  simple  people  especially."  "  Women,  and  inferior  trades- 
men, which  in  seven  years  can  scarce  learn  the  mystery  of  the 
lowest  profession,  think  half  seven  years  enough  (gained  from 
their  worldly  employments),  to  understand  the  mysteries  of 
divinity,  and  whereupon  meddle  with  controversy,  which  they 
have  no  more  capacity  to  pry  into  than  a  bat  to  look  into  the  third 
heaven!"  The  writer  also  gives  us  his  version  of  the  public 
discussions  of  Tombes  elsewhere.  "  The  disputes  at  Bewdley, 
Hereford,  and  Ross,"  have  been  successful  to  astonishment ;  and 
in  this  last,  at  Abergavenny  (though  tumultuary,  and  on  a 
sudden),  hath  appeared  the  finger  of  God.  He  hath,  with 
spittle  and  clay,  opened  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  overthrown  the 
walls  of  Jericho  with  the  sound  of  ram's  horns ;  with  these 
weak  means  hath  wrought  strong  effects,  that  no  creature  may 
glory  in  an  arm  of  flesh." 

There  are  two  accounts  of  the  origin  of  Tombes'  visit  to 
Abergavenny.  One  is  that  he  had  been  importuned,  for  several 
months  together,  to  come  into  Wales  "and  water  what  Miles 
Prosser  and  others  had  planted."  Another  account  states  that 
his  object  in  coming  was  to  confirm  a  child  lately  baptized  in 
London.  The  first  seems  the  more  probable  explanation. 
"When  he  entered  the  pulpit,"  says  the  reporter,  whom  we 
quote,  "  great  expectation  was  what  mountains  would  bring 
forth."  His  text  was  Mark  xvi.  6 — "Whence  he  concluded, 
that  infant  baptism  was  a  nullity,  a  mockery ;  no  baptism  but 
dipping  or  plunging  was  lawful ;  all  that  would  be  saved  must 
be  re-baptized,  or  baptized  after  profession ;  that  there  was  no 
such  thing  as  infant  baptism  in  primitive  times,  but  that  it 
came  in  with  other  corruptions,  upon  unsound  grounds ;  and 
challenged  the  whole  congregation  to  speak,  if  they  had 
anything  to  say  on  the  controversy."  A  great  excitement 
was  thereupon  created.  Some  of  the  people  were  offended. 
With  Mr.  Tirerand  Mr.  Smith. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  157 

Others  were  "staggered  or  scrupled;  and  some,  not  know- 
ing what  to  think  of  their  own,  their  children's,  or  their 
ancestors'  salvation."  Many  "well-learned"  heard  Mr. 
Tombes,  and  heard  with  amazement.  Among  them  were 
Vaughan,  "  schoolmaster  of  the  town,  formerly  fellow  of  Jesus 
College,  Oxford,"  and  Mr.  Bonner,  an  aged  clergyman  of  the 
neighbourhood.  No  one  spoke  after  the  service  in  answer  to 
Tombes'  challenge  ;  but  Bonner  "  closed  with  him  on  the  way 
to  his  lodging."  Tombes  "slighted  the  grave  old  man,"  but 
promised  he  would  confer  with  him  on  the  following  day." 
"  That  night,  and  especially  next  morning,  the  Anabaptists 
triumphed,  saying,  Where  are  your  champions  now?" 

Morning  came,  but  only  to  redouble  the  excitement  already 
created  in  the  quiet  little  Welsh  town.  Cragge,  Vaughan,  and 
Bonner  went  to  the  house  where  Tombes  was  staying  ;  but  the 
crowd  which  followed  them  surged  into  the  house,  filled  the 
street,  and  prevented  any  discussion.  It  was,  however,  agreed 
that  a  public  debate  should  be  held  in  the  parish  church  at  one 
o'clock. 

At  that  hour  the  ancient  and  spacious  church  of  St.  Mary's 
was  crowded.  Tombes  took  the  pulpit,  with  his  friend  Mr. 
Abbetts,  a  resident  Baptist  minister ;  his  three  opponents  fixed 
themselves  in  a  seat  hard  by.  Bonner  was  "  preparing  to  give 
the  onset,"  when  some  gentleman  near  dissuaded  him,  "  lest 
in  his  aged  and  feeble  state  he  should  impair  his  health."  For 
six  long  hours  the  debate  continued,  without  any  apparent 
flagging  of  the  interest. 

Vaughan  began  by  urging  that  infants  may  be  lawfully 
baptized,  since  baptism  has  now  taken  the  place  of  circum- 
cision, and  is  the  ceremony  by  which  children  are  admitted 
into  the  covenant  of  grace.  He  confesses  that  baptism  was 
anciently  practised  by  plunging.  Tombes  begs  the  people  ta 
observe  this  concession  of  his  antagonist ;  and  Vaughan  retorts 
by  charging  Tombes  with  his  "  overuncharitable  speech  in  his 
sermon,"  to  the  effect  that  "  infant  baptism  was  a  nullity  and 


158  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


mockery,  and  concluded  them  and  all  their  ancestors,  even 
all  the  Western  Church  for  fifteen  hundred  years,  under 
damnation."  Although  "plunging  was  the  ancient  way," 
says  Vaughan,  "yet  the  Church  has  power,  upon  the 
sight  of  inconvenience,  of  order  and  decency's  sake,  to  alter 
the  circumstantials  and  externals  of  any  ordinance.  Had  she 
not  changed  the  time  of  celebrating  the  Lord's  Supper  from 
the  evening  to  the  morning  ? "  Vaughan  ends  by  appealing 
to  Tombes  to  cease  to  embroil  the  Church  of  God,  so  infinitely 
torn  already,  and  to  submit  to  the  judgment  and  scarcely  inter- 
rupted practice  of  the  Western  Church  for  fifteen  hundred 
years. 

Cragge,  the  clergyman  of  the  parish,  next  enters  the  lists. 
He  begins  by  an  apology.  The  task  forced  upon  him  is  "on 
a  sudden,"  and  finds  him  "  unprovided."  Moreover,  his  anta- 
gonist is  "an  experienced  champion."  If  he  (Cragge)  should 
fail  in  his  part,  he  hopes  the  cause  he  has  at  heart  may  not 
suffer.  He  asks  liberty  to  premeditate,  aud  promises  to  treat 
upon  the  subject  of  the  debate  hereafter.  Still,  "if  he  were  to 
study  the  matter  in  dispute  as  many  hours  as  Mr.  Tombes 
had  studied  it  days,  or  days  as  he  had  done  weeks,  or 
weeks  as  he  had  done  months,  or  months  as  he  had  done 
years,"  the  truth  was  so  evidently  on  his  (Cragge's)  side 
"  that  he  could  not  fear  (inaugre  all  opposition)  to  make 
it  clear.  In  the  meanwhile,  trusting  to  God's  assistance  (whose 
cause  it  was),  he  would  attempt,  beginning  with  his  enthy- 
mena :  '  Some  infants  may  not  be  baptized,  therefore  some 
infants  may  be  baptized.'"  Tombes  denies  this;  but  Cragge 
at  once  replies  :  "  Subcontrary  propositions  in  a  contingent 
matter  may  be  both  true.  But  these  (viz.,  some  infants  may 
not  be  baptized,  some  infants  may  be  baptized),  are  subcon- 
trary propositions  in  a  contingent  matter ;  therefore  they  may 
be  both  true." 

The  narrator  of  the  debate  tells  us  that  "Here  Mr.  Cragge 
appealed  to  the  judgment  of  the  people!"  but  what  "inferior 


BYE-PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  159 

tradesmen,"  who  had  "  no  more  capacity  to  pry  into"  theology 
''than  a  bat  to  look  up  into  the  third  heaven,"  knew  about 
"  sub-contrary  propositions  in  contingent  matters,"  is  more 
than  he  chooses  to  tell  us.  He,  however,  makes  abundantly 
evident  that  there  was  in  the  audience,  from  the  very  first, 
a  strong  sympathy  with  their  own  local  champion,  and  assures 
us  that  Tombes  would,  after  Mr.  Cragge's  appeal  to  them,  have 
waded  into  "a  large  discourse  to  wind  himself  out"  of  his 
difficulty.  Cragge  thereupon  complains  that  Tombes,  "  like 
a  lapwing,  is  carrying  the  hearers  far  from  the  matter  in  dis- 
pute;" and  Cragge's  remark  smacking  of  tartness,  a  certain 
"  C.  P.,"  a  local  apothecary,  who  had  already  interposed, 
spoke  out,  and  got  snubbed  for  his  pains,  a  "gentleman  of 
authority  telling  him  that  it  was  not  fit  for  a  man  of  his  place 
and  calling  to  speak!"  "  C.  P."  took  his  snubbing  meekly, 
and  remained  silent  the  rest  of  the  debate. 

Tombes  method  of  expounding  the  passages  he  quoted  did 
not  please  some  of  the  audience,  and  they  cried  out  that  he 
was  wasting  time.  "A  learned  gentleman"  also  had  his  fling 
at  Tombes,  evidently  a  soldier,  from  his  similes :  "  This-  is 
but  to  spend  time  in  parleying,  that  you  may  avoid  the 
gunshot ;  for  you  are  afraid  of  the  great  thunderbolt  that  is 
behind." 

Cragge  now  quotes  Ambrose's  saying,  "  That  he  who  bap- 
tized all  nations,  excepted  none,  not  even  infants ; "  but, 
shocking  to  say,  Tombes  "  pished  at  it,  and  slighted  Ambrose's 
authority,"  to  the  great  scandal  of  the  Abergavenny  folk. 
Here  was  an  opportunity  for  an  appeal  to  the  "  inferior  trades- 
men "  which  even  Cragge  could  not  resist ;  and  hence  he  cries, 
"  Whether  will  you  obey  Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  and  the 
Scriptures,  or  Mr.  Tombes,  vicar  of  Leominster,  against  the 
Scriptures,  judge  ye!"  The  applause  which  greeted  this 
appeal  showed  that  the  questioner  had  rightly  gauged  his 
audience. 

According  to  the  account  of  the  debate,  from  which  we  have 


160  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


quoted,  evidently  written  by  a  bitter  hater  of  Baptists,  and  no 
friend  of  Tombes,  the  Leominster  vicar,  who  set  himself  above 
Ambrose,  "  would  now  have  broken  through  the  pales  to  rove 
abroad  again ;  but  he  was  pressed  to  keep  within  the  lists." 
He  still  denied  "  that  children  were  holy,"  or  "  in  the  cove- 
nant;" and  so  "  gave  but  little  satisfaction  to  the  greatest  part 
of  the  hearers."  Nay,  he  was  even  "  nettled,  as  if  something 
in  Cragge's  argument  had  galled  him."  "  Children  are  holy," 
retorts  Cragge :  "you  do  not  like  that  saying,  because  it  cuts 
the  throat  of  your  tenet."  "  Nay,"  replies  Tombes;  "it  does 
not  so  much  as  touch  its  skin." 

Here  a  voice  from  under  the  pulpit  shouted  to  Tombes, 
"  You  answer  nothing  at  all ;  but  shift  and  deny  all." 
Tombes,  stooping  down,  looks  at  the  man,  and  says,  "  Thou 
art  an  impudent,  brazen-faced  fellow,  whosoever  thou  art.  I 
have  answered  all ;  confuted  all  my  adversaries'  books  ;  and 
amongst  them  one  of  my  greatest  adversaries.  I  have  turned 
Mr.  Richard  Baxter  the  most  of  his  argument." 

"  A  little  while  after  this,  Mr.  Tombes,  looking  upon  his 
watch,  said,  '  I  am  weary  of  this  pedantry.  I  promised  but 
one  hour,  and  it  is  four  hours.'  With  that  he  clapped  his  book 
together.  '  Good  Mr.  Tombes,'  said  an  Anabaptist,  '  continue 
a  little  longer  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  people.'  He  gave  no 
answer  ;  but  put  on  his  hat." 

The  reason  of  Tombes'  chagrin  is  patent  enough.  Cragge's 
congregation  backed  up  their  minister,  even  where  they  could 
not  understand  him ;  and  Tombes  accordingly  said,  when 
leaving  the  church,  that  he  would  have  no  further  dispute  with 
him,  except  by  writing.  The  following  Sunday  Mr.  Cragge, 
at  the  request  of  his  many  sympathisers,  preached  from  the 
same  text  as  Mr.  Tombes,  and  no  doubt  abundantly  satisfied 
the  people  who  had  been  "  staggered,"  or  "  offended,"  and 
"  grieved,"  by  the  eloquent  Baptist.  Tombes  was  now  safely 
out  of  the  way  at  Leominster,  and  peace  was  once  more 
restored  to  the  quiet  little  town  on  the  Usk. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  i6r 

Denn8  and  Gunning,  in  London. 

Five  years  after  the  Abergavenny  dispute,  a  still  more 
famous  discussion  took  place  in  London.  Its  origin  was  this  : 
some  gentlewoman  in  the  metropolis,  having  become  a  Christian, 
was  in  great  trouble  about  the  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of 
infant  baptism.  In  order  to  remove  her  doubts,  Mr.  Henry 
Denne,  the  indefatigable  General  Baptist  minister,  and  Dr. 
Gunning,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chichester,  agreed  to  discuss 
the  subject  in  public,  and  St.  Clement  Dane's  Church, 
London,  "without  Temple  Bar,"  was  selected  as  the  place  in 
which  the  discussion  should  be  held.  Thousands  of  people 
were  attracted  to  listen.  The  dispute  began  on  the  19th 
November,  1658,  and  was  renewed  on  the  26th  of  the  same 
month. 

On  the  first  day,  Henry  Denne  occupied  the  pulpit,  Dr. 
Gunning  fixing  himself  in  a  gallery  opposite.  Entreating  the 
multitude  to  be  silent,  and  behave  themselves  civilly  and 
orderly,  Mr.  Denne  thus  began:  "One  there  is,  who  desireth 
to  be  informed  whether  the  baptism  of  infants  be  lawful  or 
unlawful.  I  declare  that  the  baptism  of  infants  is  unlawful." 
To  this  Dr.  Gunning  replies,  from  his  seat  in  the  gallery,  "  I 
will  prove  the  baptism  of  infants  to  be  lawful.  Thus :  that 
which  the  Supreme  Lawgiver  of  the  Church  hath  given  in 
command  to  His  immediate  officers  of  the  Church,  by  a  per- 
petual sanction  and  unalterable  decree,  to  be  by  them  practised, 
is  lawful.  But  the  baptism  of  infants  is,  by  the  Supreme  Law- 
giver of  the  Church  given  in  command  to  His  immediate 
officers,  by  a  perpetual  sanction  and  unalterable  decree,  to  be 
by  them  and  their  successors  practised.  Therefore,  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  is  lawful."  Denne  "  denies  the  minor  ;"  where- 
upon Gunning  adds,  that  "it  is  Christ's  will  that  infants 
should  be  saved,  and  that,  as  they  cannot  be  saved  without 
baptism,  or  desire  for  baptism,  in  their  parents  or  friends, 
therefore  it  is    Christ's    will    and   command  that  they  should 

M 


1 62  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

be  baptized."  Denne  readily  grants  the  first  part  of 
Gunning's  assertion,  "that  Christ  will  have  infants  to  be 
saved  ;  "  but  altogether  demurs  to  Gunning's  statement,  "that 
baptism  is  the  condition  of  salvation,  and  therefore  lawful." 
The  future  bishop  now  quotes  John  iii.  4,  and  urges  that,  "  to 
be  born  again  of  water,  is  baptism." 

Denne's  reply  is  very  shrewd.  "  The  place  of  Scripture  you 
have  brought  is  allegorical,"  said  Denne;  "  and  therefore  not 
so  proper  to  be  a  ground  of  faith.  Against  this  gloss,  or  expla- 
nation, three  things  may  be  urged  :  (1)  That  Scripture '_must  be 
considered  to  whom  and  of  whom,  they  speak ;  and  not  to  be 
applied  to  any  other  concerning  whom  it  doth  not  speak.  This 
Scripture  (John  iii.  4)  is  addressed  to  Nicodemus,  seeking  to 
learn  the  way  of  God,  and  is  neither  spoken  of  children,  nor 
to  children.  (2)  By  being  born  again  of  water  is  not  meant 
baptism,  but  a  mystical,  and  not  literal  water.  (3)  If  it  were 
granted  that  the  text  did  include  children,  and  that  by  water 
baptism  were  intended,  yet  it  will  not  follow  that  children  can- 
not be  saved  without  baptism,  because  here  is  only  mention 
made  of  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  You  know  the 
kingdom  of  God  hath  manifold  exceptions  [meanings]  in  the 
Scriptures  ;  sometimes  it  is  taken  for  Gospel  preaching,  some- 
times for  a  visible  church,  sometimes  for  that  happiness  which 
men  and  women  (not  infants)  do  enter  through  believing." 

The  dispute  next  turns  upon  whether  the  Greek  words  in  the 
commission  are  intended  to  include  "  children"  as  well  as  men 
and  women,  Gunning,  of  course,  contending  that  they  do,  and 
Denne  quoting  passages  to  show  that  they  do  not.  "Have 
you  a  Greek  Testament  ?  "  asked  Gunning,  with  a  sneer. 
Denne,  who  can  quote  Greek  as  readily  as  the  doctor,  passes 
over  the  sneer,  and  refers  to  the  passage  quoted.  A  further 
contention  arises  as  to  whether  Tertullian  or  Justin  Martyr 
was  the  first  to  mention  infant  baptism,  and  Gunning  "appeals 
to  the  Christian  auditors"  with  something  of  a  triumphant 
flourish. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  163 

Gunning's  second  argument  in  favour  of  infant  baptism  is  the 
following  : — "  That  which  is  no  sin  for  parents  to  require,  and 
for  ministers  to  perform,  being  required,  is  lawful.  But  it  is 
no  sin  for  parents  to  require  baptism  for  their  infants,  neither 
for  niinisters  to  perform  it,  being  required.  Therefore,  the 
baptism  of  infants  is  lawful."  Of  course,  Denne  again  "denies 
the  minor,"  and  contends  that  " it  is  a  sin;"  to  which  Gunning 
rejoins,  "that  being  confirmed  by  an  everlasting  law,  and 
standing  commission,  not  to  be  altered  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
it  is  no  sin." 

Then  follows  a  bit  of  word- quibbling  on  "  the  commission;" 
Gunning  thinking  he  had  his  opponent  on  the  hip,  because  he 
spoke  of  "  children  being  unwilling,"  whereas,  "it  is  impos- 
sible that  they  should  be  unwilling,  seeing  they  know  not  any- 
thing of  the  matter ;  and  Denne  replying,  with  some  sharpness, 
"You  might  have  spared  this  labour,  for  I  did  not  say  that 
children  were  unwilling,  but  I  said  that  they  were  not  willing. 
There  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  two.  You  know,  for 
example,  how  willing  Constantius  Copronymus  was  to  be  bap- 
tized when  he  was  an  infant,  and  how  he  came  to  have  the 
name  Copronymus.  I  forbear  to  tell  the  story  before  this 
audience ;  but  come,  point  me  a  syllogism  out  of  the  words  of 
the  '  commission.'  "  "  The  Apostles  are  commanded  to  make 
disciples  of  all  nations,"  replies  Gunning.  "  Now  infants,  who 
are  part  of  the  nations,  cannot  be  made  disciples  in  any  other 
way  than  by  baptism ;  therefore,  they  are  here  commanded  to 
make  disciples  by  baptism."  Gunning  further  contends  that 
infants  are  "called,"  "predestinated,"  "God's  servants," 
"given  to  Christ  by  the  Father,"  and  were  therefore  pro- 
perly regarded  as  "  Church  members  ;  "  but  Denne,  holding 
Arminian  views,  objects  in  toto  to  his  statements. 

The  doctor  now  quotes  Austin's  opinion,  namely,  that  the 
baptism  of  infants  was  held  by  the  Church  from  apostolic 
times,  and  that  he  (Gunning)  is  prepared  to  prove  this,  "by 
several  testimonies  from  the  Ancients."     But  Denne  rejoins, 

m  2 


1 64  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

that  although  that  might  be  Austin's  opinion,  Erasmus,  "  who 
laboured  much  in  Austin,  and  Ludovicus  Vives,  who  was  very 
skilled  in  his  doctrine,"  were  neither  of  them  convinced  by 
his  opinion,  and  both  believed  the  contrary  to  be  true  of  the 
early  churches.  "  Moreover,"  adds  Denne,  "you  know  what 
I  have  already  told  you  out  of  Tertullian  and  Gregory 
Nazianzen.  I  think  it  needless  to  repeat  the  same  things 
again." 

After  much  debate,  in  which  the  former  arguments  were 
again  repeated  by  both  opponents,  the  first  day's  discussion 
ended,  they  mutually  agreeing  to  meet  on  that  day  week. 

The  two  opponents  on  the  second  day  changed  places — 
Gunning  is  the  respondent,  and  Denne  the  opponent.  It  is 
not  stated,  however,  whether  Gunning  now  occupied  the  pulpit 
and  Denne  the  seat  in  the  gallery  opposite.  Gunning  leads  off 
in  precisely  the  same  manner  as  Denne  had  previously  done, 
and  Denne  opposes.  "One  desires,"  says  the  doctor,  "to  be 
informed  touching  the  baptism  of  infants,  whether  it  be  lawful, 
or  unlawful.  I  affirm  the  baptism  of  infants  to  be  lawful." 
"And  I  will  prove,"  rojoined  Denne,  "  the  baptism  of  infants 
to  be  unlawful.  If  the  baptism  of  infants  be  lawful,  it  is  either 
from  some  reason  delivered  by  you,  or  some  other  ;  but  not  by 
any  reason  delivered  by  you,  or  any  other  ;  therefore,  the  bap- 
tism of  infants  is  not  lawful."  He  argues  that  it  is  neither 
supported  by  tradition  nor  Scripture  ;  and  as  Denne  pours  out 
text  upon  text  in  support  of  the  last  statement,  Gunning  loses 
his  self-control,  and  after  telling  Denne  that  "he  (Gunning) 
does  not  carry  a  Concordance  in  his  head,"  asks  him,  "whether 
he  (Denne)  knows  what  is  the  Ethiopic  word  to  "  teach.'" 

A  closer  wrestling  ensues  from  this  point.  Gunning  affirms 
that  "infants  who  are  unbaptized  are  shut  out  of  heaven;" 
and  Denne  retorts,  "  that,  if  they  are,  then  God  punishes  some 
creatures  for  that  which  they  cannot  help  ;"  but  that  this  is  con- 
trary to  the  Divine  conduct,  and  "therefore  unbaptized  infants 
are  not  shut  out  of  heaven."     With  some  heat,  Gunning  in- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  165 

stantly  exclaims,  "  I  deny  the  consequence ;  "  to  which,  as 
warmly,  Denne  replies,  "  Then  shutting  out  of  heaven  is  no 
punishment." 

This  appeared  a  bold  statement,  and  greatly  startled  some  of 
the  vast  assembly  who  were  listening  to  the  word-wrangling 
with  breathless  attention.  "  Bear  witness!  bear  witness!" 
some  eagerly  cried  out ;  "he  saith,  '  It  is  no  punishment  to  be 
shut  out  of  heaven.'"  Others  affirmed,  "That  he  plainly  in 
so  many  syllables  had  said  so,  as  they  were  ready  to  witness." 

Gunning  appears  not  to  have  taken  notice  of  this  reply,  or  of 
the  clamour  it  raised,  and  goes  on  to  say,  "  That  as  the  potter 
hath  power  over  the  clay,  to  use  it  at  his  pleasure,  so  God 
might  do  what  He  would  with  His  own."  Denne 's  reply  is 
cautious,  and  was  repeated  three  or  four  times,  without  the 
least  notice  being  taken  of  it  by  his  opponent.  "  I  do  not 
say,"  said  Denne,  "  what  God  may,  or  may  not  do,  but  what 
He  doth.  Now,  we  know  that  God  cannot  do  contrary  to 
His  oath;  but  to  punish  creatures  for  what  they  cannot  help,  is 
contrary  to  His  oath  ;  therefore,  God  cannot  do  it.  Moreover, 
this  I  argue  :  If  God  punish  creatures  for  that  they  cannot 
help,  then  He  doth  not  leave  all  the  world  without  excuse. 
But  He  will  leave  all  the  world  without  excuse  ;  therefore, 
He  will  not  punish  any  creature  for  that  which  he  cannot  help." 

Not  only  did  not  Gunning  give  any  answer  to  this  argument, 
but  he  now  began  loudly  to  complain  of  "  the  injury  that  was 
being  done  to  him  by  the  disorder  of  the  auditors."  Denne 
also  confessed  his  sorrow  at  the  uproar,  but  protested  that  it 
was  altogether  without  his  approbation."  "  He  had  still," 
said  Denne,  "  many  other  things  to  propound,  but  the  time 
allotted  to  the  dispute  was  spent,  and  his  own  infirmities  began 
to  press  upon  him,  and  he  should  therefore  cease." 

The  upshot  of  the  debate  was,  that  five  days  after,  the  lady, 
at  whose  instance  the  discussion  began,  was  publicly  immersed. 
The  day,  we  are  told,  "was  cold  and  sharp,  and  it  seemed 
strange  that  a  gentlewoman  should  endure,  at  that  season  of 


166  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  year,  and  in  such  weather,  to  go  into  the  water  and  be 
dipt  all  over;"  but  as  "fantastical  ladies  have  a  proverb, 
'  Pride  feels  no  cold,'  so  it  may  be  said  of  faith  and  zeal :  they 
also  feel  no  cold." 

As  to  the  general  result  of  the  debate,  "the  success  was 
estimated  according  to  the  different  affections,  rather  than  the 
judgments  of  some  men  and  women."  The  writer  closes  his 
account  by  a  fact  which  is  recorded  for  the  special  benefit  of 
the  Yicar  of  Kidderminster,  who  had  declared  that  baptism  by 
immersion  was  not  much  better  than  murder,  since  it  was 
frequently  attended  with  great  bodily  risk.  "  I  can  show  Mr. 
Baxter,  an  old  man  in  London,  who  hath  laboured  in  the  Lord's 
pool  many  years,  converted  by  his  ministry  (as  an  instrument 
in  the  hand  of  the  Lord)  more  men  and  women  than  Mr. 
Baxter  hath  in  all  his  parish.  Yet,  when  he  hath  laboured  a 
greater  part  of  the  day  in  preaching  and  reasoning,  his  refection 
hath  been,  not  a  sack-posset  or  candle,  but  to  go  into  the  water 
and  baptize  converts."  The  inference  intended  to  be  conveyed 
by  this  circumstance  is  too  obvious  to  need  statement ;  but  we 
greatly  question  whether  there  are  many  who  would  now 
endorse  that  inference. 

The  Portsmouth  Debate 

demands  more  than  a  passing  notice,  since  it  was  the  last 
public  disputation  of  an}' consequence  on  the  subject  of  baptism 
in  England.  It  arose  out  of  these  circumstances  :  Mr.  Samuel 
Chandler,  a  Presbyterian  minister  of  Fareham,  established  a 
fortnightly  lecture  in  the  town  of  Portsmouth.  Following  out 
a  certain  plan  of  his  own,  he  was  led  to  treat  on  the  subject  of 
"  Sacraments,"  and  uttered  some  harsh  things  in  the  course  of 
this  discussion  against  the  principles  and  practices  of  the  Bap- 
tists. A  gentleman,  not  a  Baptist,  who  attended  these  lectures, 
took  them  down  in  short-hand,  and  showed  them  to  several  of 
his  friends,  amongst  others,  to  Mr.  Thomas  Bowes,  the  General 
Baptist  minister  of  the  town.     Mr.  Bowes  thinking  the  cause 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  167 

of  truth  might  suffer  if  these  strictures  were  allowed  to  pass 
unnoticed.,  waited  upon  his  friend,  Mr.  Webber,  the  Particular 
Baptist  minister  of  Gosport.  Mr.  Webber  coinciding  with  Mr. 
Bowes'  opinion,  a  number  of  Baptists  attended  Mr.  Chandler's 
next  lecture,  in  which  he  undertook  to  answer  the  objections 
urged  by  his  opponents.  At  the  close  of  the  service,  Mr. 
Bowes  stood  up  before  all  the  congregation,  and  charged  Mr. 
Chandler  with  preaching  false  doctrine,  challenged  him  to  meet 
publicly  an  ordained  minister  and  discuss  the  question  of  bap- 
tism. The  lecturer  at  once  accepted  the  challenge,  only  stipu- 
lating that  his  opponent  should  be  "  a  man  who  understood 
the  laws  of  disputation."  The  Presbyterians  applied  to  the 
magistrates  of  Portsmouth  to  obtain  for  them  a  licence  from 
the  King,  "  publicly  to  vindicate  the  common  cause  of  the 
Keformed  churches,  and  settle  the  wavering  in  the  belief  and 
practice  of  those  truths  which  tend  very  much  to  the  advance- 
ment of  early  piety  and  religion."  The  licence  was  granted, 
and  both  parties  looked  out  for  the  ablest  champions.  At 
first  the  Baptists  thought  of  Mr.  Matthew  Caffyn,  but  being 
suspected  of  heresy,  he  was  passed  over.  They  next  turned 
their  eyes  to  William  Bussell,  M.D.,  the  well-known  General 
Baptist  minister  of  London,  and  procured  his  consent  to  defend 
their  cause.  With  Dr.  Russell,  in  the  position  of  "junior 
counsel"  and  "moderator,"  were  Mr.  John  Williams,  of  East 
Knowle,  and  Mr.  John  Sharpe,  of  Frome,  both  Particular 
Baptist  ministers.  The  Presbyterians  selected  Mr.  Samuel 
Chandler,  the  lecturer,  whose  words  had  given  such  offence  ; 
Mr.  Leigh,  of  Newport ;  and  Mr.  Robinson,  of  Hungerford,  the 
last  gentleman  acting  as  moderator  for  their  party. 

The  day  agreed  upon  for  the  disputation  was  February  the 
22nd,  1698-9 ;  and  the  place,  the  Presbyterian  Meeting-house, 
High  Street,  Portsmouth.  The  assembly  was  worthy  of  the 
debate.  The  governor  and  the  lieutenant-governor  were  pre- 
sent, the  mayor,  and  the  magistrates  of  Portsmouth.  A  large 
and  well-to-do  class  of  people  filled  the  chapel,  and,  as  one 


168  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

authority  tells  us,  the  military  and  the  civil  power  attended, 
at  the  command  of  the  King,  to  preserve  peace  and  good  order. 
The  debate  began  between  nine  and  ten  in  the  morning,  and 
continued  without  cessation  for  nine  hours. 

Mr.  Chandler  commenced  by  delivering  a  "Prologue,"  and 
repeating  the  questions  to  be  disputed,  namely,  "  (1)  Whether, 
according  to  the  commission  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  adult  believers  are  only  the  proper  subjects  of  baptism, 
and  not  infants  ?  (2)  Whether  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  as 
appointed  by  Christ,  is  to  be  administered  by  dipping,  plunging, 
or  overwhelming  only,  and  not  otherwise  ?  They  affirm,  and 
we  deny." 

Dr.  Russell,  after  a  few  preliminary  questions  and  answers, 
leads  off  the  debate.  He  affirms  that  Christ  nowhere  requires 
any  of  His  ministers  to  baptize  infants,  and  therefore  the 
baptism  of  infants  is  not  according  to  His  commission.  Mr. 
Chandler  replies,  "  If  you  will  allow  good  consequences  drawn 
from  Scripture,  I  will  deny  your  minor."  "Then  you  must 
suppose  that  Christ  hath  required  some  of  His  ministers  to 
baptize  infants,"  said  Dr.  Russell.  Mr.  Chandler  answers, 
"  We  distinguish  between  consequential  truths  and  express 
words."  "  So  do  we,"  answers  Dr.  Russell;  "  but  I  hope  our 
Lord's  commission  about  holy  baptism  is  delivered  in  express 
words,  and  not  in  consequentials.  The  term  in  my  argument 
is  very  lax ;  I  do  not  say  there  '  command,'  but  '  required;'  and 
if  you  prove  the  baptism  of  infants  anywhere  '  required '  by 
Christ,  it  is  sufficient." 

Mr.  Leigh  here  interposes  to  ask  if  the  doughty  champion  of 
the  Baptists  "will  allow  good  Scripture  consequences  in  the 
case,  or  whether  he  expects  plain  Scripture  words?"  "If 
you  can  prove  it  without  an  express  command,  prove,  that  is, 
that  Christ  'required'  it,  that  will  suffice;"  but,  adds  the 
doctor,  "  you  must  remember  that  you  are  to  prove  it  accord- 
ing to  Christ's  commission  (for  those  are  the  terms  of  the 
question),  and  I  believe  you  will  find  it  a  difficult  task  to  do 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  169 

that  by  consequence."  "What!  from  the  commission?" 
asked  Chandler  in  amazement ;  whereupon  the  Presbyterian 
moderator,  Mr.  Robinson,  declares  that  Dr.  Russell  must  prove 
his  position  by  a  universal  negative.  Nothing  loth,  the  doctor 
asks  that  Mr.  Chandler  should  deny  some  part  of  his  argument, 
a  thing  he  had  not  yet  prevailed  upon  him  to  do,  and  presently 
says:  "  If  the  requiring  of  infant  baptism  be  anywhere  recorded 
in  Holy  Scripture,  either  Mr.  Chandler,  or  some  other  person, 
is  able  to  shew  it.  But  neither  Mr.  Chandler,  nor  any  other 
person  whatsoever,  is  able  to  shew  it ;  therefore,  it  is  not  any- 
where so  recorded  in  Holy  Scripture."  Mr.  Chandler,  being 
thus  pinned  in  a  corner,  seeks  to  escape  by  "  denying  Dr. 
Russell's  minor ;"  upon  which  the  doctor  appeals  to  the  Pres- 
byterian moderator,  that  he  (the  moderator)  had  asked  for  "  an 
universal  negative,"  that  one  had  now  been  given,  and  that 
Mr.  Chandler  was  therefore  bound,  in  all  fairness,  to  give  a 
single  instance  where  it  was  so  written  that  infants  should  be 
baptized.  Conscious  of  his  own  mistake,  the  moderator 
replies :  "  Suppose  Mr.  Chandler  cannot  give  an  instance,  nor 
anybody  in  the  company,  you  cannot  thence  infer  that  none  in 
the  world  can."  But  this  evasive  answer  calls  for  a  biting 
reply  from  Dr.  Russell.  "What  is  this,"  said  he,  "  but 
in  effect  to  give  away  your  cause,  when  so  many  men  of  parts 
and  learning  are  here  present  ?  If  you  all  refuse  to  give  a 
single  instance,  the  people  will  think  that  you  have  none  to 
give." 

The  doctor,  begging  the  audience  to  notice  that  his  first 
argument  stands  until  the  instance  asked  for  is  given,  now 
marshals  his  second,  which  is  as  follows  :  "If  infants  are  not 
capable  of  being  made  disciples  of  Christ  by  the  ministry  of 
men,  then  they  cannot  possibly  be  the  subjects  of  baptism 
intended  in  Christ's  commission ;  but  infants  are  not  capable  to 
be  made  disciples  of  Christ  by  the  ministry  of  men  ;  therefore 
they  cannot  possibly  be  subjects  of  baptism  intended  in  Christ's 
commission."     A  dispute  at  once  followed  as  to  whether  Dr. 


170  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


Russell  meant  by  "  making  disciples,"  "  actual  and  complete 
disciples,"  Mr.  Leigh  urging,  "I  thus  distinguish:  infants  may 
be  entered  into  the  church  in  order  for  learning,  &c,  and  they 
are  disciples  before  baptism  ;  yet,  in  a  more  visible  sense,  they 
are  made  disciples  by  baptism."  This  does  not  satisfy  Dr. 
Russell:  "  infants  have,  as  infants,  no  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil,  and  therefore  they  are  not  capable,  while  they  are  infants, 
to  be  made  disciples  by  the  ministry  of  men."  Chandler  here 
complains  that  Russell  "  tricks  all  this  while  ;  that  what  he 
(Chandler)  means  by  infants  being  disciples,  is  their  being 
solemnly  invested  by  baptism ;"  but  Russell  declares  he  is 
discussing  "  pre-requisites  for  baptism,"  and  was  not  speaking 
of  "  investiture."  A  second  time  the  debate  falls  into  a  dispute 
about  "  complete  "  discipleship  ;  and  Chandler,  confessing  that 
infants  were  not,  as  infants,  capable  of  that,  Russell  claims  to 
have  maintained  his  second  argument.  "  It  is  now,  therefore, 
high  time  that  I  descended  to  a  new  one." 

The  "new  argument"  should  be  specially  observed,  from 
the  shuffling  method  by  which  Mr,  Leigh  sought  to  meet  it. 
"If  the  Apostle  Paul  did  declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,  and 
kept  back  nothing  that  was  profitable  for  the  Church  of  God, 
and  yet  did  never  declare  the  baptism  of  infants  to  be  a  Gospel 
institution,  according  to  Christ's  commission,  then  it  is  no 
Gospel  institution,  nor  any  part  of  the  counsel  of  God,  nor 
profitable  for  the  Church  of  God  ;  but  the  Apostle  Paul  did 
declare  all  the  counsel  of  God,  and  kept  back  nothing  that  was 
profitable  for  the  Church  of  God  ;  and  yet  did  never  declare  the 
baptism  of  infants  to  be  a  Gospel  institution,  according  to 
Christ's  commission  ;  therefore  it  is  no  Gospel  institution,  nor 
any  part  of  the  counsel  of  God,  nor  profitable  for  the  Church  of 
God."  Mr.  Leigh's  method  of  replying  to  this  argument  is, 
by  suggesting  that  Paul  wrote  divers  Epistles  upon  many  sub- 
jects ;  that  evidently  some  leaves  were  cut  off' from  one  of  his 
Epistles,  that  to  the  Epkesians;  and  that,  for  anything  that  Dr. 
Russell  might  know  to  the  contrary,  Paul  might  have  advocated 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.                   171 
t 

infant  baptism  in  one  or  other  of  these  missing  leaves  !  The 
doctor  replies  to  Mr.  Leigh's  miserable  shift  by  asking  him 
pointedly  if  he  believes,  with  the  Assembly  of  Divines,  that  the 
Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  are  the  only  rule  to 
direct  us  in  matters  of  worship  ;  and  by  demanding  that  Mr. 
Leigh,  or  some  of  his  friends,  should  produce  these  siv  missing 
leaves  of  the  Epistle  of  Paul  (of  which  he  had  never  before 
heard),  and  prove  that  they  were  really  written  by  Paul ;  and 
then,  if  such  a  thing  as  infant  baptism  were  contained  in  any 
of  them,  he  would  allow  it.  "Hereupon  Mr.  Leigh  was 
angry  ;"  and  no  wonder.  He  still,  however,  reiterated  his 
statement  in  another  form.  "  Paul's  writings  are  not  the 
hundredth  part  of  what  Paul  preached  ;  we  cannot  suppose 
that  in  these  six  chapters  to  the  Ephesians,  he  could  contrive 
to  put  down  the  whole  of  his  preaching  in  them."  Here  Dr. 
Kussell  sarcastically  twits  Leigh  with  favouring  the  Popish 
notion  of  the  value  of  tradition,  in  his  talk  about  "Paul's  ser- 
mons, not  written."  "I  have  heard,"  he  says,  "  of  some 
unwritten  traditions  that  are  locked  up  in  the  Pope's  breast,  to 
be  delivered  out  as  he  finds  occasion  to  serve  a  turn  ;  but  I 
never  knew  that  the  Presbyterians  were  ever  entrusted  with  any 
such  treasure  /" 

Triumphing  over  his  opponents  in  his  third  argument,  Dr. 
Russell  now  adduces  his  fourth:  "Christ's  commission  doth 
show  who  are  to  be  baptized ;  but  it  doth  not  show  that  infants 
are  to  be  baptized ;  therefore  infants  are  not  the  subjects  of 
baptism,  according  to  Christ's  commission."  Mr.  Leigh 
objects  ;  again  cites  his  former  statement,  that  children  are 
included  in  the  term  "  all  nations  ;"  and  a  second  time  repeats 
the  opinion,  that  there  is  no  necessity  for  persons  to  be  disciples, 
in  the  doctor's  sense,  before  they  are  baptized.  Then  Dr. 
Russell,  a  little  piqued  by  the  stale  repetition,  replies,  "I  will 
read  my  Master's  commission  ;"  and  forthwith  slowly  reads 
Matthew  xxviii.  19. 

Here  the  Presbyterian  moderator  "  bawls  very  loud,  saying, 


i;2                   BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 
j 

Mr,  Williams,  will  you  suffer  him  to  preach  ?  "  But  the  doctor 
is  not  to  be  put  down  by  clamour,  nor  yet  by  the  insinuation 
that  he  is  going  to  preach  Arminian  doctrine,  and  so  offend  his 
Calvinistic  colleague  Mr.  Williams.  "  What,"  said  Dr.  Russell 
to  the  Presbyterian  moderator,  "  do  you  talk  of  preaching  ? 
Are  you  afraid  of  the  commission  ?  Are  you  not  in  danger  of 
earning  Tertullian's  reproach  of  one  of  the  Fathers,  that  he  was 
Lucifuga  Scripturarum,  iOc,  flying  from  the  light  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, as  bats  from  the  light  of  the  sun  '?  "  and  declares  that  if 
his  opponents  (who  are  sticklers  for  the  Institutes  of  the  Genevan 
Reformer)  should  oppose  what  he  (Dr.  Russell)  had  said,  they 
would  at  the  same  time  oppose  Calvin  himself,  who  had  not 
only  declared  that  there  was  no  mention  made  of  infants  in  the 
commission,  but  had  further  said,  that  we  might  as  well  apply 
these  words  to  little  infants  :  "If  any  will  not  work,  neither 
shall  he  eat "  (2  Thess.  iii.  10),  and  so  keep  them  from  food 
until  they  starve  ! 

This  apt  quotation  from  Calvin  displeased  the  Presbyterian 
moderator,  who  asked,  in  querulous  tones,  "  What  have  we  to 
do  with  what  Mr.  Calvin  says?*'  To  which  the  doctor  slily 
rejoins,  "  I  did  not  know  but  you  might  have  had  a  veneration 
for  Mr.  Calvin;  but  seeing  it  is  otherwise,  I  will  thus  argue 
from  the  commission  :"  and  then  proceeds  to  give  his  own 
view  of  it.  A  squabble  presently  arises  between  Mr.  Leigh 
and  the  moderator  of  his  party ;  and  Dr.  Russell  thinks  that 
the  two  had  better  change  places,  Mr.  Leigh  become  moderator 
and  Mr.  Robinson  disputant.  After  this  escapade  on  the 
moderator's  part  (who  seems  to  have  been  very  unfit  for  his 
respoDsible  post),  the  wordy  war  proceeds,  Russell  afiirniing, 
Leigh  denying,  now  in  one  way  now  in  another,  that  the 
commission  only  warrants  the  baptism  of  believers. 

Mr.  Leigh  touches  by-and-by  upon  dangerous  ground.  He 
argues  that  "  if  believing  be  previous  to  baptism,  it  must  be 
necessary  to  salvation  ;  and  so  you  must  say,  that  all  not 
believing  are  damned  ;  and  so  all  infants  are  damned."    Russell 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  173 

declares  that  this  is  a  non  sequitur,  as  he  has  already  shown 
that 'infants  are  not  at  all  intended  in  the  commission  ;  °  but," 
he  solemnly  adds,  "  as  touching  infants,  I  am  far  from  believing 
that  God  hath  decreed  them,  as  such,  to  eternal  damnation. 
I  uill  rather  believe  that  all  infants,  dying  in  their  infancy,  are 
elected  " — (a  great  stretch  of  belief  for  this  valiant  General 
Baptist) — "  than  conclude  that  any  of  them  were  damned.'"  He 
asks,  moreover,  that  as  he  has  so  freely  expressed  his  opinion 
upon  this  subject  of  infant  salvation,  the  Presbyterians  should 
be  equally  outspoken  concerning  their  opinions  on  the  same 
subject.     But  he  asks  in  vain. 

Mr.  Williams  next  suggests  Erasmus'  reading  of  the  com- 
mission— "  Go,  teach  all  nations,  and  when  they  have  learned, 
dip  them;"  but  the  Presbyterian  moderator  again  forgets  his 
duties,  and  appeals  to  the  audience  :  "  You  see,  sirs,  this  gen- 
tleman grounds  his  opinion  upon  the  authority  of  Erasmus  ;" 
"  who  is  well  known  to  have  been  between  a  Papist  and  a  Pro- 
testant," chimes  in  Mr.  Leigh.  But  both  Russell  and  Williams 
argue  that,  whatever  his  opinions,  Erasmus  was  a  man  not  to 
be  despised  for  his  skill  about  the  etymology  of  a  Greek  word ; 
that  it  was  his  judgment,  as  one  of  the  best  scholars  of  his  time, 
and  not  his  authority,  that  led  to  his  being  quoted;  "but," 
says  Russell,  with  some  exhibition  of  temper,  "  anything  serves 
your  turn  at  a  pinch." 

Mr.  Leigh  again  makes  an  unfortunate  slip,  which  Dr. 
Russell,  as  a  controversialist,  quickly  takes  up,  and  makes 
merry  over, — namely,  in  speaking  about  eunuchs  and  "  the 
eunuchs'1  children."  Russell  at  once  recollects  an  amusing 
story  of  another  Presbyterian  minister  who  had  made  the  same 
blunder,  and  cannot  forbear  telling  it  with  the  evident  gusto  of 
an  "  M.D.  of  the  famous  University  of  Cambridge." 

Mr.  Williams,  "  the  junior  counsel,"  now  relieves  Dr.  Russell 
of  the  leading  part  in  the  debate.  He  (Mr.  Williams)  argues, 
that  since  infants  are  incapable  of  denying  themselves  for 
Christ,  they  are  incapable  of  being  made  disciples  of  Christ. 


174 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


Of  course  Mr.  Leigh,  who  has  been  left  by  Mr.  Chandler  to  do 
the  hardest  part  of  the  work,  objects  to  this,  and  asks  "  if 
infants  are  not  as  capable  of  believing  in  Christ,  as  of  coming 
to  Christ ;  and  yet  they  were  said  to  come  when  their  parents 
brought  them."  Mr.  Williams  denies  that  the  parents'  faith 
was  imputed  to  the  children,  as  Mr.  Leigh  suggests.  Again  a 
rather  dangerous  concession  was  made  by  the  leading  Presby- 
terian disputant ;  Mr.  Leigh  said,  in  effect,  that  infant  baptism 
might  be  practised  in  the  apostolic  or  early  times,  though  no 
instance  was  recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  At  this  Dr. 
Russell  wakens  up  again,  and  asks  if  he  (Leigh)  will  grant  that 
no  case  is  recorded  in  the  New  Testament  ?  "  We  will  suppose 
it,"  he  replies,  "  but  not  grant  it."  "  0  yes,"  adds  the  doctor, 
"  you  suppose  it  because  you  cannot  prove  it ;  for  you  are  not 
so  free  of  your  concessions."  This  stirs  up  Mr.  Leigh's  anger, 
and  he  replies,  with  tartness,  "It  is  not  recorded  in  the  New 
Testament  what  you  practice ;  namely,  that  grown  children  of 
believers  were  baptized.  I  challenge  you  to  give  one  instance 
of  any  one,  born  of  believing  parents,  baptized  at  age."  Dr. 
Russell  here  repeats  his  former  challenge,  for  a  single  instance 
in  the  New  Testament  of  any  one  infant  that  was  ever  baptized ; 
and  as  Mr.  Leigh  presses  for  an  example  of  a  child  of  be- 
lieving parents  who  was  baptized,  he  refers  to  Constantine, 
whose  mother  Helena  was  a  Christian,  and  declares  that  he 
does  not  recollect  a  single  instance  of  any  one  of  the  Fathers, 
or  eminent  bishops  of  the  Church  during  the  first  five  hundred 
years  of  the  Christian  era,  who  were  baptized  until  they  were 
between  twenty  and  thirty  years  of  age  ;  and  if  any  of  his 
opponents  know  an  instance  to  the  contrary,  he  shall  be  glad  if 
they  will  quote  it.  "  What  do  you  tell  us  of  Fathers?  "  asks 
Mr.  Leigh:  "we  are  not  bound  to  abide  by  their  testimony." 
"  Well  then,"  asks  Mr.  Williams,  "  was  not  the  mother  of  our 
Lord  a  believer  when  Christ  was  born  ?  "  Mr.  Leigh  is  angry 
that  such  a  question  should  be  asked ;  and  declares,  with  some 
exhibition   of  impatience,  "  that    everybody   knows   that   she 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  175 


was."  "  But  do  you  believe  it?"  rejoins  Mr.  Williams,  follow- 
ing up  the  advantage  he  had  gained  by  this  adroit  question. 
"Yes,  I  do  believe  it:  what  then?"  "Then,  this,"  replies 
Mr.  Williams,  "here  is  an  instance  for  you,  from  Scripture,  of 
a  child-believer,  that  was  a  believer  before  he  was  born  ;  and 
yet  he  was  not  baptized  till  he  came  to  years ;  and  this  we  can 
prove." 

A  general  titter  ran  through  the  crowded  assembly  at  the 
skilful  manner  in  which  Mr.  Leigh  was  caught ;  and  Mr.  Leigh 
grew  pale  and  troubled,  as  a  man  might  be  expected  to  do  under 
such  uncomfortable  circumstances  ;  but  he  presently  recovered 
his  self-possession,  and  replied,  "Our  discourse  was  grounded  on 
the  commission;  now  was  this  before  the  commission,  or  after 
it?" — a  skilful  parry,  but  losing  its  effect  through  coming  rather 
as  an  after-thought  than  as  a  prompt  and  instantaneous  reply. 
Of  course  Dr.  Russell  now  came  to  the  rescue  of  his  "junior," 
showed  that  Mr.  Leigh  was  mistaken,  and  that  he  really  had 
received  "  a  pertinent  answer  already,  every  way  suitable  to 
his  question."  There  must  have  been  a  little  more  laughter 
among  the  audience  at  this  point,  since  Mr.  Leigh  "  made  no 
reply."  He  is  nothing  daunted,  however ;  and  proceeds  to 
show  that,  in  his  judgment,  "  infants  are  visible  Church  mem- 
bers," the  proof-passage  being  the  words  of  Christ,  "  Suffer 
little  children  to  come  unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Mr.  Williams'  reply  to  this  is,  that 
infants  are  neither  members  of  the  universal  Church,  nor  yet  of 
a  particularly  constituted  Church,  and  therefore  they  are  not 
members  of  the  visible  Church  at  all.  His  opponent  does  not 
notice  his  argument,  but  again  declares  that  infants  are  part  of 
a  nation,  and  therefore  might  be  baptized.  Mr.  Williams 
answers,  "  Though  children  are  part  of  a  nation,  yet  not  of  the 
nation  modified  by  Christ's  commission." 

Upon  this  the  Presbyterian  moderator  rather  rudely  calls 
the  attention  of  the  audience  to  the  fact  that  Mr.  Williams  "has 
no  academical  learning;"  Mr.  Williams  rejoins   with  a  touch 


i;6 


BYE-PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


of  sarcasm,  "lam  warned  by  that  word  to  have  a  care  of 
vain  philosophy;"  and  at  once  asked  "what  was  the  ante- 
cedent to  the  relative  them  in  the  commission  ? "  The 
moderator  now  found  it  wiser  to  be  silent ;  but  both  Dr.  Russell 
and  Mr.  "Williams  answered  for  him,  "  all  nations  discipled." 
They  both  again  ask  for  a  single  instance  of  infant  baptism 
from  the  Word  of  God ;  and  no  reply  being  forthcoming,  Dr. 
Eussell  said:  "  If  infants  are  capable  to  be  made  disciples  of 
Christ  by  the  ministry  of  men,  without  the  use  of  reason,  then 
the  beasts  of  the  field  are  also  capable  ;  but  the  beasts  of  the 
field  are  not  capable ;  therefore  infants  are  not  capable." 

This  reply  greatly  agitated  the  irritable  Presbyterian 
moderator.  "  He  stood  up  and  threw  himself  about,  making  a 
noise  like  one  in  a  delirious  paroxysm,  and  bade  the  people 
take  notice  that  Dr.  Russell  had  ranked  their  infants  among 
the  brute  beasts  ;  and  that,  if  they  became  of  his  opinion,  they 
must  look  upon  them  as  dogs,  or  cats,  or  hogs,  Sec,  with  much 
more  of  the  same  sort  of  rhetoric,  endeavouring  all  he  could  to 
enrage  the  multitude  of  unthinking  persons  against  him,  and 
put  the  people  into  confusion."  "  Hold,  hold."  cries  Dr. 
Russell.  "  Mr.  Robinson,  I  have  already  told  you  how  great  an 
esteem  I  have  for  your  little  infants.  ...  I  now  bring  this 
illustration  to  show  the  absurdity  of  your  opinions  :  Suppose 
there  were  twenty  or  thirty  new-born  infants  in  a  room,  and 
you  should  choose  out  the  most  able  and  learned  persons 
amongst  you  to  preach  to  them,  in  order  to  make  them 
disciples,  according  to  Christ's  commission,  I  believe  he  would 
have  no  better  success  than  St.  Anthony  had,  as  the  story 
goes,  when  he  took  upon  him  to  instruct  the  pigs  ;  or,  as  some 
others  have  done,  even  Popish  saints,  who  have  taken  upon 
them  to  preach  to  the  fowls  of  the  air,"  Sec  His  remark  about 
the  beasts,  is.  after  all,  he  says,  not  such  an  out-of-the-way 
"  conceit,"  since  the  Romish  Church  baptizes  bells,  which  are 
certainly  passive  in  their  baptism,  and  on  that  account,  says 
Augustine,    "  the  fittest   subjects,   since    children    show  their 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  177 

resistance  by  crying!  "  "  And  now,"  said  he,  "I  demand  of 
any  of  you  to  take  off  the  retortion,  and  show  the  disparity  if 
you  can." 

A  general  silence  ensues,  which  is  at  length  broken  by  the 
undaunted  Mr.  Leigh,  who  exclaims,  "It  is  time  to  proceed  to 
the  other  question :  whether  the  ordinance  of  baptism,  as 
appointed  by  Christ,  is  to  be  administered  by  dipping,  plunging, 
or  overwhelming  only,  and  not  otherwise."  Dr.  Russell  meets 
this  by  saying  :  "  The  Holy  Scriptures  shows  us  the  right  way 
of  baptizing  as  appointed  by  Christ,  but  it  doth  not  show  us 
that  it  ought  to  be  done  by  sprinkling';  therefore  sprinkling  is 
not  the  right  way  of  baptizing."  This  did  not  satisfy  Mr. 
Leigh,  who  at  once  exclaimed,  "  Sir,  you  must  bring  in  that 
dipping  is  absolutely  necessary :  what  do  you  talk  of  sprinkling 
for  ?  "  Here  is  another  opportunity  for  a  smart  retort,  and  Dr* 
Russell  could  not  resist  it :  "I  hope  you  are  not  ashamed  of 
your  practice  ;  but  if  you  will  disown  sprinkling  to  be  the  right 
way  of  baptizing,  I  am  contented.  I  will  not  then  insist  upon 
it.''  Mr.  Robinson,  the  moderator,  felt  the  force  of  this  retort ; 
and  as  Mr.  Leigh  was  silent,  Mr.  Robinson  said :  "  We  are  not 
discoursing  upon  that  now;  you  are  to  prove  dipping  to  be  the 
only  way;  and  you  must  and  shall  -prove  it."  "  Must  and  shall," 
replied  Dr.  Russell ;  "must  and  shall  is  for  the  king,  and  not 
for  Mr.  Robinson." 

The  debate  next  turns  upon  the  meaning  of  the  Greek  word 
translated  "  baptize,"  and  Mr.  Chandler,  who  had  been  silent 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  now  opens  his  lips.  He  con- 
fesses that  baptizo  means  to  dip,  but  it  means  also  "  to  wash ; " 
and  declares  that  there  is  great  probability  that  many  in  the 
Scripture  times  were  baptized  by  pouring  a  little  water  on 
the  face.  Dr.  Russell  meets  his  new  antagonist  by  quoting 
"  what  Astedius  saith  in  his  Lexicon  Theologicum,"  showing  that 
it  was  only  in  a  secondary  and  remote  sense  that  the  word 
baptizo  can  mean  "  to  wash;  "  and  quotes,  in  confutation  of 
the  other  part  of  Chandler's  statement,  the  baptism  of  Christ 

N 


178  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


by  John,  and  the  Eunuch  by  Peter,  where  both  administrator 
and    "  person  baptized  "  went  into  the  water. 

A  good  deal  of  "  confused  jangling  and  noise  "  followed 
Russell's  reply,  when  a  new  opponent  suddenly  starts  up, 
a  Presbyterian  minister,  who  thinks  ''that  there  had  been 
little  said  to  purpose  ;"  whereupon  Russell  at  once  says  that, 
on  the  contrary,  he  thinks  a  good  deal  has  been  said  to  the 
purpose,  and  more  than  his  opponents  have  answered.  "  But," 
said  he,  looking  the  new  combatant  full  in  the  face,  "if  you 
are  not  satisfied,  we  will  waive  all  that  hath  been  said,  and  I 
will  dispute  it  over  with  you,  de  novo."  The  Presbyterian 
minister  shrugged  his  shoulders  at  this  unexpected  challenge, 
declared,  that  "  he  did  not  feel  very-  well ;"  and,  in  fact, 
declined  to  pick  up  the  gauntlet. 

The  debate  came  to  an  end  between  six  and  seven  o'clock. 
Mr.  Leigh  returned  thanks  to  the  governor  and  maj'or  for  their 
civility,  which  the  Baptists  very  promptly  endorsed.  A  brief 
prayer  was  offered  by  Mr.  Leigh,  and  the  assembly  were 
dismissed. 

Two  "scribes"  were  employed  to  take  short-hand  notes  of 
the  debate ;  but  when  the  Baptist  "  scribe  "  went  to  the  Pres- 
byterian "scribe"  in  order  to  compare  notes  with  a  view  to 
publication,  the  Presbyterian  declined  ;  pleaded  that  he  had 
never  before  been  engaged  in  such  work,  and  that  his  account 
was  very  imperfect.  Nor  did  any  one  of  the  Baptists  after- 
wards "procure  so  much  as  a  sight  of  his  copy."  Neverthe- 
less, three  days  after  the  debate,  the  following  advertisement 
appeared  in  the  Postman  newspaper  : — "  Portsmouth,  Feb.  23. 
— Yesterday  the  dispute  between  the  Presbyterians  and  the 
Anabaptists  was  held  in  the  Presbyterian  meeting-house.  It 
began  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  continued  till  six 
in  the  afternoon,  without  intermission.  The  theme  of  the 
dispute  was,  the  subject  of  baptism,  and  the  manner  in  which 
it  is  to  be  performed.  Russell  and  Williams  were  the  opponents 
for  the  Anabaptists,  and  Mr.  Chandler  and  Mr.  Leigh  for  the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  179 

Presbyterians  ;  Mr.  Sharpe  was  moderator  for  the  former,  and 
Mr.  Robinson  for  the  latter.  Mr.  Russell  opposed  infant  bap- 
tism with  all  the  subtility  and  sophistry  of  the  schools ;  and  it 
was  answered  with  good  reason  and  learning.  Upon  the  ivJiole, 
it  was  the  opinion  of  all  the  judicious  auditory,  the  Presby- 
terians sufficiently  defended  their  doctrines,  and  also  worsted  their 
adversaries,  when  they  came  to  assume  the  place  of  opponents." 

It  afterwards  appeared  that  Colonel  John  Gibson,  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of  Portsmouth,  was  the  author  of  this  para- 
graph ;  and,  from  Mr.  Chandler's  asking  his  permission  in  the 
following  June  to  print  it,  with  the  endorsement,  "  that  he 
was  still  of  the  same  opinion,"  it  is  not  unfair  to  suppose  that 
Mr.  Chandler  "  inspired  "  the  writer  himself. 

Another  and  fuller  account  appeared  in  the  Flying  Post  in 
April,  but  so  unfair  and  one-sided  thatDr.  Russell  was  provoked  to 
publish  the  narrative  of  the  debate  from  which  we  have  quoted. 
This  led  to  a  second  version  by  the  Presbyterians  a  few  months 
later,  which  was  shown  by  the  Baptists  to  be  full  of  inac- 
curacies, or,  as  one  writer  more  stingingly  describes  them,  "  of 
insertions,  transpositions,  falsifications,  and  additions." 

At  the  close  of  his  "prologue,"  Mr.  Chandler  asked  the 
audience  to  join  him  in  the  prayer,  "  that  God  would  grant 
that  truth  might  prevail."  We  are  not  told  by  Mr.  Chandler 
whether  he  regarded  it  as  an  answer  to  his  prayer,  that  some 
of  "  the  judicious  auditory,"  notwithstanding  Colonel  Gibson's 
opinion,  were  convinced  of  the  propriety  of  the  Baptists' 
sentiments,  and  a  few  days  after  the  debate  were  "  dipped  in 
water." 

A  good  deal  of  bitterness  on  both  sides  grew  out  of  the 
debate,  and  much  angry  recrimination,  little  tending  to  promote 
Christian  fellowship.  It  is,  therefore,  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  the  Baptist  historians  who  record  the  debate  itself  should 
all,  without  exception,  rejoice  that  this  was  the  last  of  the 
kind  ever  held  in  this  country  :  a  sentiment  in  which  every 
reader  will  heartily  agree. 

n2 


"^3*-> 

.^;:.;.;.;^v^.-...:    ,    ,  -  .:;:/:::■  ^:-:-.[^:-::--^.k^-^-„\ 

%M^M; 

SJK|§|p; 

*<m&M 

WSfgiBmk 

C^^^^r^V 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

LOCAL  ASSOCIATIONS  AND   GENERAL 
ASSEMBLIES. 


THERE  is  some  obscurity  hanging  over  the  origin  of  Local 
Associations.  That  they  sprang  up  during  the  time  of 
the  Commonwealth,  and  that  they  rapidly  multiplied  when  once 
the  idea  was  broached,  are  facts  abundantly  attested;  but  which 
Association  can  rightly  claim  to  be  the  first,  there  is  no  small 
difficulty  in  determining.  The  Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches 
in  London,  published  in  1644,  hints  at  the  idea  of  association 
in  the  forty-seventh  article  :  "Although  the  particular  congre- 
gations be  distinct  and  several  bodies,  every  one  as  a  compact 
and  knit  city  within  itself ;  yet  are  they  all  to  walk  by  one  rule 
of  truth ;  so  also  they,  (by  all  means  convenient),  are  to  have 
counsel  and  help  one  of  another,  if  necessity  require  it,  as  mem- 
bers of  one  body,  in  the  common  faith,  under  Christ  their 
head."  But  how  far  this  "  counsel  and  help  "  led  to  united 
action,  does  not  appear.  Grantham's  declaration,  in  his  Chris- 
tian ismus  Primitivus,  published  long  after  Local  Associations 
and  General  Assemblies  had  become  common  among  at  least 
one  section  of  the  Baptist  denomination,  exactly  expresses  the 
purpose  which  was  contemplated  in  establishing  them.  "  The 
mutual  consultation  of  many  churches  together,  shows  not  the 
superiority  of  churches  one  above  another ;  but  only  the 
brotherly  interest  which  they  have  in  the  strength  of  each  other, 
and  the  duty  which  lieth  upon  the  churches  one  to  help  another 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  181 

in  their  difficulties.  And,  doubtless,  her  strength  thus  united 
is  the  most  powerful  means  under  heaven  (through  the  virtue 
of  Christ's  promise  to  be  with  them  as  His  Church),  to  stop  the 
current  of  heresy,  and  to  keep  the  churches  in  unity  both  in 
doctrine  and  manners." 

The  special  cause  which  led,  some  half  dozen  or  more  years 
after  the  publication  of  the  Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches,  to 
a  general  desire  for  greater  union  among  the  Particular  Baptists, 
was  the  earnest  letter  received  by  the  London  churches  from 
the  churches  in  Ireland.  In  this  letter  they  say,  "  that  their 
beloved  and  faithful  brother,  John  Vernon,  the  bearer  of  the 
letter,"  will,  through  God's  blessing,  "be  suddenly  with  you. 
.  .  .  His  conversation  hath  been  in  zeal  and  faithfulness  ;  the 
Lord  having  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  all  his  congregations  in 
Ireland  to  have  a  more  revived  correspondence  with  each  other 
by  letter  and  loving  epistles,  in  which  practice  we  found  great 
advantage,  not  only  by  weakening  Satan's  suggestions  and 
jealousies,  but  it  hath  brought  a  closer  union  and  knitting  of 
heart ;  and,  which  is  not  an  inferior  consideration,  we  have 
hereby  been  enabled  feelingly  and  knowingly  to  present  each 
other's  wants  and  conditions  before  our  God.  In  the  same 
manner,  we  shall  be  enabled  to  answer  our  duty  towards  you, 
and  you  towards  us,  and  so  bear  each  other's  burdens,  and 
fulfil  the  law  of  Christ  in  our  very  near  relation.  We  hereby 
earnestly  request  the  same  brotherly  correspondence  with  you 
and  from  you ;  and,  by  your  means,  with  all  the  rest  of  the 
churches  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales,  whom  we  trust  will 
be  provoked  to  the  same  things,  which  we  hope  may  be  mutu- 
ally obtained  once  in  three  months."  The  same  letter  also 
asks  for  "  a  perfect  account  of  the  churches  of  Christ  owned  in 
communion  with  them  ;"  and  offers  "  one  request  more,  if  it 
hath  not  been  lately  practised  ;"  namely,  "  that  they  would 
send  two  or  more  faithful  brethren,  well  acquainted  with  the 
discipline  and  order  of  the  Lord's  house,  able  to  speak  season- 
able words,  suited  to  the  necessities  of  the  people,  to  visit, 


iS2  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


comfort,  and  confirm  all  the  flock  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  that  are, 
or  have  given  up,  their  names  to  be  under  His  rule  and  govern- 
ment in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales." 

This  letter  produced  a  powerful  effect  upon  the  churches  in 
London.  After  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer,  they  agreed  to 
adopt  its  suggestions.  Inquiries  were  at  once  made  of  the 
several  churches  in  different  parts  of  the  island ;  but  we  have 
no  means  of  ascertaining  the  result.  The  letter  sent  to  the 
Welsh  churches  has  been  preserved  ;  and  from  this  we  learn, 
that  ''the  several  churches  of  Christ  in  London,"  as  the 
senders  describe  themselves,  were  anxious  "  to  obtain  a  full 
account  of  all  the  churches  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales  ;" 
and  for  the  purpose  of  gathering  this  information  from  the 
Principality,  they  urge  their  Welsh  churches  to  visit  the  several 
weak  and  scattered  brethren  in  their  part,  and  near  adjacent, 
that  it  may  be  known '•  what  churches  and  societies  they  at 
London  may  groundedly  communicate  with.'* 

Although  there  is  no  extant  record  of  the  result  of  this 
correspondence,  it  is  a  fair  inference,  that  the  churches  which 
mooted  the  question  of  union  by  letter  and  visits,  and  set  the 
example  of  it,  speedily  adopted  other  means  of  periodical  asso- 
ciation with  one  another.  If  only  this  inference  could  be 
established,  it  would  entitle  the  London  Baptist  Association  to 
claim  the  foremost  place  among  the  many  Associations  that 
have  since  been  formed  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Wales. 

The  Somerset   Association. 

In  November  of  the  same  year  (1653)  in  which  the  letter 
from  Ireland  aroused  the  churches  in  London,  an  Association 
of  Particular  Baptist  Churches  was  formed  in  the  West  of 
England.  There  is  little  doubt  that  this  union  was  the  result 
of  the  circulation  of  that  letter  by  the  London  Baptists.  The 
first  meeting  of  the  Somerset  churches,  and  the  churches  of 
Wilts,  Devon,  Gloucester,  and  Dorset,  was  held  at  Wells  "  on 
the  sixth  and  seventh  days  of  the  ninth  month."    At  this  meet- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  183 

ing  one  of  the  subjects  of  debate  was,  "  Whether  laying  on  of 
hands  on  baptized  believers  was  an  ordinance  of  Christ  ?" 
The  majority  agreed  that  there  was  no  warrant  for  it,  in  precept 
or  precedent ;  that  whether  it  were  practised  by  the  churches 
or  not,  it  should  not  be  made  a  condition  of  communion ; 
and  that  any  minister  who  so  contended  for  it  should  not  be 
permitted  to  preach  in  any  of  the  associated  churches.  They 
yet  unanimously  decided,  at  the  same  meeting,  that  the  ordina- 
tion of  both  ministers  and  messengers  should  not  only  be  pre- 
ceded by  prayer  and  fasting,  but  should  be  accompanied  with 
the  imposition  of  hands.  "  The  circular  letter  "  was  signed  by 
Thomas  Collier,  one  of  the  many  Baptist  ministers  singled  out 
by  Gangrcena  Edwards  for  abuse.  "  He  is  a  master-secre- 
tary," says  Edwards,  "  and  a  man  of  great  power  amongst 
them.  He  hath  emissaries  under  him,  whom  he  sends  abroad 
and  commands  to  several  parts,  as  Syms,  Kowe,  &c,  and 
supply  his  place  in  his  absence.  He  hath  done  much  hurt  in 
Lymington,  Hampton,  Waltham,  and  all  along  this  country." 
In  other  words,  Collier  was  one  of  the  most  indefatigable  Par- 
ticular Baptist  ministers  in  the  west  of  England,  and  zealously 
fulfilled  the  office  to  which  he  was  called — the  General  Super- 
intendent and  Messenger  of  the  Associated  Churches. 

This  first  Local  Association,  of  which  we  have  any  account, 
must  have  regarded  its  meetings  as  profitable  to  the  churches 
generally,  since  it  met  again  two  months  afterwards.  Collier  a 
second  time  signs  "  the  circular  letter."  The  next  meeting 
was  held  at  Bridgewater,  "  on  the  eighteenth  day  of  the  second 
month,"  in  1655.  This  Association  was  chiefly  remarkable  for 
its  outspoken  letter  to  the  Baptist  churches  in  Ireland,  who 
were  then  receiving  State  aid,  very  much  to  the  astonishment 
of  the  Baptists  in  the  West  of  England.  "  Dear  brethren," 
say  they  in  their  fraternal  letter,  "  we  desire  the  Lord  to  teach 
you  to  deny  yourselves  in  this  case  ;  and  truly  we  have  heard 
likewise  of  the  great  vanity  and  pride  in  apparel  of  some  of  the 
brethren  in  the  ministry  with  you  ;  and  whereas,  they  should 


i84  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

be  patterns  in  humility,  meekness,  and  a  good  conversation, 
they  are  too  much  patterns  of  the  contrary.  These  things, 
dear  brethren,  have  often  sounded  in  our  ears  (and  indeed  hath 
pierced  our  hearts),  not  only  from  enemies,  but  friends.  And 
indeed  we  cannot  doubt  that  the  large  allowance  from  the  State 
in  Ireland  hath  drawn  over  many  brethren  to  be  preachers 
there ;  not  but  we  rejoice  in  the  flourishing  of  the  Gospel  in 
that  nation,  and  could  desire  that  there  were  more  publishers 
of  it ;  but  it  would  have  added  to  our  joy  had  they  come  there 
upon  better  principles.  We  desire  not  to  mention  particulars 
in  this  case  ;  but  that  we  hope  is  reformation,  which  will  be 
our  joy  in  the  Lord,  being  that  which  indeed  hath  ministered 
matter  of  grief  and  sorrow  to  our  souls."  To  these  rebukes  of 
their  friends,  the  Irish  ministers  do  not  appear  to  have  taken 
much  heed.  "  Our  brethren  in  Ireland,"  says  an  entry  which 
follows  a  copy  of  the  letter  in  the  records  of  the  Association, 
"  did  never  to  this  epistle  return  us  any  answer  ;  which  was 
our  trouble."  It  is,  perhaps,  difficult  to  determine  how  far 
the  charges  of  the  Somerset  Association  were  correct ;  but  one 
is  disposed  to  regard  some  of  their  strictures  as  founded  on 
reports  too  hastily  accepted,  since  in  the  following  year  the 
same  Irish  brethren  wrote  to  some  "Welsh  churches,  warning 
them  "  to  take  heed  of  the  sin  of  earthly-mindedness,"  and  "to 
labour  after  a  just,  blameless,  and  shining  life." 

They  also  advised  them,  as  they  were  "now  in  prosperous 
times,  to  prepare  for  a  storm."  "  Let  those  that  are  rich 
among  you  strive,"  they  further  say,  "to  be  large-hearted 
to  the  poor  ;  and  so  much  the  more  because  of  the  present 
distress,  and  because  of  the  great  hatred  of  the  world,  which 
saints  of  our  judgment  endure.  .  .  .  We  desire  you  to  follow 
after  enlargement  of  heart,  both  in  contributions  towards  the 
poor  and  other  church  uses,  and  in  the  maintenance  of  them  who 
dispense  the  Word  unto  you,  that  such  dispensers  may  give  them- 
selves wholly  to  the  work,  in  which  duty  some  of  us  have 
observed,  on  your  side  of  the  water,  sundry  persons,  yea,  we 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


fear  churches,  have  come  short."  It  seems  scarcely  probable 
that  churches  who  were  fairly  open  to  all  the  rebukes  of  the 
Somerset  letter  would  write  in  this  strain  to  others. 

There  is  one  other  counsel  in  this  epistle  of  the  Irish 
ministers  to  the  two  Welsh  churches  in  Glamorganshire  which 
is  worth  noticing.  It  is  a  bit  of  advice  about  books.  "  Besides 
ministerial  teaching,"  says  the  letter,  "we  would  commend 
unto  you  the  use  of  good  books;"  "  and,"  as  if  in  some  doubt 
as  to  whether  these  simple  Welsh  people  wrould  know  what 
"good  books  "  they  should  "  use,"  they  add:  "take  advice  of 
some  goodly  preacher  what  are  fit  to  buy." 

The  Somerset  Particular  Baptist  Association  published  a 
Confession  in  1656,  to  which  we  have  referred  in  a  previous 
chapter.  This  was  first  designed,  so  they  tell  us,  "  rather  for 
a  trial  of  their  unity  in  the  faith,  and  for  closer  fellowship  one 
with  another:"  but  fearing  to  be  confounded  with  men  who 
held  "free-will,  and  falling  from  grace"  in  their  neighbour- 
hood (the  General  Baptists) ;  and  wishing  to  utter  their  protest 
against  "  such  as  pretend  to  a  light  and  voice  within  them,  with- 
out any  relation  to  Christ  and  the  Scriptures  "  (the  Quakers)  ; 
they  considered  that  there  was  "more  than  ordinary  neces- 
sity" why  they  should  give  publicity  to  their  Confession.  It 
substantially  agrees  with  the  Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches 
or  London  Confession. 

This  Association  was  held  half-yearly,  and  continued  to  meet 
until  1657,  after  which  time  its  records  cease.  But  there  was 
no  fixed  rule  as  to  the  intervals  at  which  Local  or  county  Asso- 
ciations are  held.  Among  the  General  Baptists  they  met  either 
quarterly,  half-yearly,  or  annually,  according  to  the  conveni- 
ence of  the  churches  associated,  the  principal  town  in  the 
district  being  generally  selected  as  the  place  of  meeting. 
Almost  every  part  of  the  country  had  its  General  Baptist 
Association,  since  this  was  one  of  the  first  steps  taken  on  the 
formation  of  even  a  small  number  of  churches ;  and  where  the 
churches  were  few  and  far  between,  two  or  three  counties  held 


186  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

a  common  meeting,  like  the  Western  Particular  Baptist 
Association  just  mentioned.  The  persons  entitled  to  attend 
were  messengers,  elders,  and  brethren.  The  next  Local  Asso- 
ciation was 

The  Midland  Association. 

The  Midland  Association  of  Particular  Baptist  Churches  was 
formed  in  1655,  at  Warwick.  A  preliminary  meeting  was  held 
on  the  third  of  May,  when  the  pastors  and  messengers  of  the 
following  churches  agreed  upon  "  Sixteen  Articles  of  Faith  and 
Order:"  Warwick,  Morton,  Bourton-on-the-water,  Alcester, 
Tewkesbury,  Hook  Norton,  and  Derby.  It  is  supposed  that 
the  excellent  and  devoted  minister  of  Warwick,  Rev.  Daniel 
King,  was  the  chief  agent  in  securing  the  formation  of  this 
ancient  Association.  The  articles  which  had  been  unanimously 
agreed  upon,  were  taken  back  by  the  pastors  to  their  several 
churches,  to  be  examined  and  approved ;  and  on  the  26th  June 
of  the  same  year,  the  Midland  Association  again  met  at 
Moreton-in-the-Marsh.  The  assembled  brethren  then  formally 
adopted  the  Sixteen  Articles,  appending  their  names  on  behalf 
of  the  churches  they  represented.  In  substance  these  Articles 
agree  with  the  Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches.  After  this 
statement  of  their  basis  of  union,  the  Association  determined 
the  objects  of  their  union.  "  The  churches  were  to  be  helpful 
to  each  other ;  first ;  in  giving  advice,  after  serious  consulta- 
tion and  deliberation,  in  matters  and  controversies  remaining 
doubtful  to  any  particular  church,  according  to  the  plain 
example  of  the  Churches  of  Jerusalem  and  Antioch.  (Acts  xv. 
23,  &c.)  Secondly;  in  sending  their  gifted  brethren  to  use 
their  gifts  for  the  edification  of  the  churches  that  need  the 
same,  as  they  shall  see  it  to  be  reasonable,  as  the  Church  at 
Jerusalem  sent  Barnabas  to  Antioch.  Acts  xv.  22.  Thirdly  ; 
in  giving  and  receiving  also,  in  case  of  the  poverty  and  want 
of  any  particular  church,  as  plainly  doth  appear  in  the 
approved    and    duo    acting    of  the   Churches  of   the    Gentiles 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  187 

towards  the  Church  at  Jerusalem.  Eom.  xv.  26.  Fourthly ; 
in  a  joint  carrying  on  of  any  part  of  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
as  is  commanded  to  the  churches,  as  they  shall  have  oppor- 
tunity to  join  therein,  to  the  Glory  of  (rod.  See  2  Cor. 
viii.  19 — 23.  Fifthly ;  in  watching  over  each  other  and  con- 
sidering each  other  for  good,  in  respect  of  purity  of  doctrine, 
exercise  of  love  and  good  conversation,  being  all  members  of 
the  same  body  of  Christ  (1  Cor.  xii.  12),  who,  therefore, 
ought  to  have  care  one  for  another  (ver.  25),  especially  con- 
sidering how  the  glory  of  God  is  concerned  in  their  standing 
and  holy  conversation.  The  churches  now  associated  are 
desired  to  take  these  things  into  consideration,  and  to  signify 
by  their  messengers,  at  their  next  meeting,  how  far  they  close 
with  the  same,  and  what  they  judge  expedient  to  be  further 
considered  and  done,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  the 
people." 

In  autumn  of  the  same  year  the  Midland  Association 
again  met  at  Moreton ;  and  the  following  year  three  meetings 
were  held ;  but  it  appears  to  have  been  their  plan  rather  to 
hold  their  gatherings  half-yearly.  In  1658  they  assembled  in 
Easter  week  at  Alcester,  and  appointed  their  second  meeting 
to  be  held  at  Moreton  in  September.  It  is  not  certain 
whether  their  forebodings  on  the  death  of  Cromwell  did  not 
occasion  this  second  meeting  to  be  omitted.  They  certainly 
met  in  the  early  part  of  1659,  after  which  time  their  meetings 
ceased  for  about  thirty  years,  owing  to  the  persecutions  of  all 
classes  of  Dissenters  by  Charles  the  Second  and  James  the 
Second. 

In  order  to  give  efficiency  to  their  Association,  the  Sixteen 
Articles,  with  Scripture  proof-passages,  were  printed  and 
extensively  circulated  among  the  churches,  the  Baptist  families 
of  that  period  being  diligent  to  have  them  read  in  their  house- 
holds, and  compared  with  the  Word  of  God.  They  were  also 
careful  to  admit  only  such  churches  into  their  Association  as 
approved  of  the  Sixteen  Articles,  and  particularly  objected  to 


188  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  "  Free-willers,"  as  the  General  Baptists  were  then  often 
called.  Written  copies  of  their  proceedings,  or,  as  they  styled 
them,  "their  Conclusions  and  Results,"  after  every  meeting, 
were  circulated  among  the  churches,  in  order  to  keep  up  an 
interest  in  the  Association.  The  ministers  and  messengers, 
we  are  told  in  one  of  their  Records,  were  very  exemplary  in 
this  particular  duty.  The  churches  themselves  frequently  set 
apart  a  whole  day  for  fasting  and  prayer  previous  to  the 
Association,  to  ask  God's  blessing  to  rest  upon  the  meetings. 

One  of  the  founders  of  this  Association,  Rev.  James  Wil- 
mot,  of  Hook  Norton,  was  one  of  the  many  hundreds  of 
sufferers  during  the  persecutions  under  Charles  the  Second. 
Crosby  says:  "Mr.  James  Wilrnot,  of  Hook  Norton,  and  Mr. 
Charles  Archer,  of  Sweakly,  in  the  county  of  Oxford,  joint 
pastors  of  a  baptized  congregation  meeting  at  Hook  Norton, 
were  great  sufferers  for  their  nonconformity.  About  the 
year}  1664,  they  were  taken  at  their  meeting,  and  carried  to 
the  Castle  of  Oxford.  At  another  time  they  were  sent  to 
Whitney  Gaol.  Mr.  Wilmot  was  fined  twenty  pounds,  for 
which  all  his  goods  were  seized.  They,  not  finding  enough 
on  the  premises  to  satisfy  them,  seized  upon  the  goods  of 
Mr.  Humphrey  Gillit,  a  woolman,  who  was  taken  at  the  same 
meeting  with  him.  Mr.  Wilmot's  father,  a  zealous  Church- 
man, went  to  Sir  Thomas  Penny  stone,  the  justice,  who  com- 
mitted his  son,  and  desired  his  release.  The  justice  replied, 
*  He  shall  rot  i)i  gaol.'  Says  Mr.  Wilmot,  '  Another  justice 
had  said  the  same,  but  he  is  now  dead.'  '  Though  he  be 
dead,5  replied  Sir  Thomas,  'yet  his  work  shall  not  die.'  Mr. 
Thorp,  the  gaoler  at  Oxford,  was  most  severe.  He  would  not 
permit  them  to  pray  together ;  and  if  they  craved  but  a  blessing 
on  their  meat,  he  would  come  in  a  great  rage  and  disturb 
them,  saying,  '  What!  are  you  preaching  over  your  victuals?' 
The  goods  of  Mr.  Wilmot,  who  had  been  twice  imprisoned  in 
Oxford  Gaol,  were  carried  to  Chipping  Norton,  and  there 
publicly  cryed  for  sale,   on  several  market    days  ;    but  none 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  187 

would  bid  for  them.  Then  they  were  carried  to  Swansford, 
to  one  of  the  informer's  houses,  who  could  make  no  money 
of  them  ;  and  in  the  end  they  came  again  to  Hook  Norton, 
and  proclaimed  there  that  if  anyone  would  lay  down  twenty 
shillings,  they  should  have  them  all ;  a  friend  of  Mr.  Wilmot's 
did  so,  and  he  had  all  his  goods  again.  When  Mr.  Wilmot 
was  released  from  Whitney  Gaol,  they  excommunicated  him, 
and  several  writs  were  issued  against  him.  But  he,  being 
informed  of  them,  absconded,  and  so  escaped  their  hands."* 

Mr.  Eccles,  the  pastor  of  the  Bromsgrove  Church,  which 
united  with  the  Midland  Association  after  the  Revolution,  also 
suffered  for  his  opinions.  He  was  greatly  ill-used,  was  put  into 
Worcester  Gaol,  and  would  have  remained  there,  but  for  the 
generous  [behaviour  of  Mr.  Swift,  one  of  the  Members  of 
Parliament  for  the  county  of  Worcester,  who  became  his 
bondsman  for  a  thousand  pounds,  by  which  means  he  obtained 
his  release. 

The  Midland  Association  was  reconstructed  in  1690,  and  has 
ever  since  annually  held  its  meetings  with  great  regularity. 
During  the  first  thirty  or  forty  years  after  this  period,  the 
original  doctrinal  basis  of  the  Association  was  tacitly  acknow- 
ledged ;  but  various  causes  led  to  subsequent  deviations  ;  the 
scarcity  of  the  copies  of  the  Confession  of  Faith ;  the  absence 
of  any  authorised  record  of  the  proceedings  of  the  Associa- 
tion ;  and  the  fact  that  for  a  long  period  the  circular  letters 
were  only  written.  "  The  dregs  of  Arminianism  were," 
according  to  the  fears  expressed  in  the  Bromsgrove  Letter  to 
the  Association  in  1787,  "  received  by  some  of  the  ministers 
and  churches  of  the  Association  ;"  and  in  1790,  "  the  Associa- 
tion deemed  it  proper  to  resolve — that  no  church  be  admitted 
but  such  as  profess  to  believe  the  doctrines  maintained  in  the 
heading  to  the  circular  letter,  namely — personal  election,  par- 
ticular redemption,  free  justification,  efficacious  grace,  and  the 

*  Crosby's  History  of  the  Baptists,  Vol.  III.  pp.  124,  125. 


igo  DYE-PAT  IIS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

final  perseverance  of  the  saints."  Bromsgrove,  it  should  be 
mentioned,  is  the  only  one  of  the  nine  churches  that  united  in 
the  reconstruction  of  the  Association  in  1G90,  which  still 
continues  in  it,  and  is  therefore  the  mother  church  ;  and  of  the 
seven  churches  which  formed  the  Association  in  1G55,  one  is 
extinct,  Moreton-in-the-Marsh,  and  the  remaining  six  are  now 
united  with  other  county  Associations.  A  great  number  of  the 
circular  letters  from  1713  down  to  the  present  day  are  still 
in  existence,  and  reveal  the  anxiety  which  has  been  uniformly 
held  for  the  devotion  and  piety  of  its  individual  churches. 
In  1752  the  Association  met  at  Birmingham,  and  in  their 
letter  to  the  churches  that  year  they  recommend — "  As  a 
testimony  of  Christian  love,  let  all  the  churches  spare  their 
minister  at  least  one  Lord's-day  in  the  year,  to  supply  desti- 
tute churches.  We  beg  you  to  be  content  for  that  day  with- 
out a  supply,  if  none  can  be  had."  Unfortunately  the  original 
Association  Book  has  been  lost,  and  the  present  book  only 
dates  back  to  1817.* 

Most  of  the  Local  Associations  among  the  Particular  Baptists 
virtually  contemplated  similar  objects  in  their  union  to  those 
formally  announced  by  the  Midland  Association,  and  with  these 
objects  the  Local  Associations  of  the  General  Baptists  sub- 
stantially agreed.  Adam  Taylor,  the  General  Baptist  historian, 
says,  that  the  usual  business  transacted  at  their  Local  Asso- 
ciations related  to  (1)  the  reformation  of  inconsistent  or  im- 
moral conduct,  whether  in  ministers  or  private  Christians  ;  (2) 
the  prevention  or  suppression  of  heresy;  (3)  the  reconciling 
of  differences  between  members  and  churches  ;  (-1)  giving  advice 
in  difficult  cases,  whether  respecting  individuals  or  societies  ; 
(o)  proposing  plans  of  usefulness  ;  (6)  recommending  cases  that 
required  pecuniary  support ;  and  (7)  devising  the  most  effectual 

*  "  The  History  of  the  Midland  Association  of  Baptist  Churches.  By  W. 
Stokes,  London,  18J.V  Many  very  interesting  particulars  are  to  be  found  in 
Mr.  Stokes'  admirable  digest  of  tbe  History  oj  the  Midland  Association,  from 
wbicb  tins  account  bas  been  taken. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY,  igi 

means   of  promoting  the  spread  of   Christianity  in  the  world 
at  large,  but  especially  in  their  own  churches. 

It  is  not  easy  to  ascertain  how  many  Associations  existed  at 
the  time  of  the  Commonwealth,  since  new  ones  were  con- 
stantly being  formed,  and  old  ones  dissolved  ;  but  there  is  good 
ground  for  affirming  that  they  were  found  in  every  part  of  the 
country.  Some  of  them  dwindled  away  soon  after  the  Eestora- 
tion  of  Charles  the  II. ;  but  others  continued  to  meet,  despite 
the  oppressive  and  cruel  measures  that  were  enacted  to  crush 
out  Dissenters  of  every  name.  In  1*678,  for  example,  the 
Buckinghamshire  General  Baptist  Association  was  attended 
by  fifty-four  messengers,  elders,  and  brethren.  In  the  same 
year  a  new  Particular  Baptist  Association  was  formed  at  Hemp- 
stead, Herts,  with  which  were  united  the  Baptist  church  in 
Petty  France,  London,  and  several  churches  in  the  country. 
Dr.  Nehemiah  Coxe,  on  his  return  to  his  church  in  London, 
"gave  an  account  of  the  comfortable  issue  of  the  meeting  of 
the  messengers  of  the  associated  churches,  and  of  their  desire 
that  for  the  future  some  brethren  on  behalf  of  this  (Petty 
France)  and  other  congregations  in  the  city,  might  be,  as 
occasion  is  offered,  appointed  to  assist  at  their  meetings."  The 
records  of  the  Petty  France  Church  tell  us  that  these  meetings 
were  held  half-yearly,  and  that  one  or  both  their  ministers 
generally  attended  them,  "to  assist  there,  on  behalf  of  the 
church."  The  ".County"  Association,  as  Ivimey  calls  this 
Particular  Association,  continued  to  meet  now  in  the  country, 
and  once  in  every  few  years  in  London,  until  1682,  when  a 
great  storm  of  persecution  came  down  upon  the  church  in  Petty 
France.  This  minute,  passed  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year, 
will  illustrate  the  character  of  the  church  : — "  In  regard  to  the 
uncertainty  of  our  obtaining  conveniency  of  meeting  as  formerly, 
by  reason  of  the  present  persecutions,  and  our  exclusion  from 
Petty  France,  that  the  contribution  for  the  poor  be  made  by 
monthly  subscription,  and  our  usual  times  of  breaking  bread  be 
altered  from  three  weeks,  to  once  every  month,  to  be  computed 


ig2  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

from  this  day,  May  27,  1682."  The  " County"  Association 
managed  to  find  some  quiet  nook  in  London  the  following  April 
in  which  to  hold  their  half-yearly  meeting,  the  last  as  far  as 
we  have  been  able  to  ascertain. 

General  Baptist  Assemblies. 

Before  the  period  of  which  we  are  writing,  the  General 
Baptists  had  felt  that,  while  their  Local  Associations  were 
useful  in  their  several  districts,  more  concerted  action  and 
general  co-operation  was  needed  than  these  Associations  sup- 
plied. To  meet  this  want  they  established  General  Assemblies, 
which  were  usually  held  in  London.  The  Assemblies  were 
composed,  like  the  Local  Associations,  of  messengers,  elders, 
or  ministers,  and  brethren.  Mr.  Grantham  enters  very  carefully 
into  the  question  of  the  claims  and  character  of  "  General 
Assemblies"  in  his  remarkable  and  scholarly  treatise.*  In 
this  we  are  shown  that  Local  Associations  are  conventions 
of  the  pastors  of  as  many  churches  as  by  reason  of  vicinit3r 
of  country,  and  acquaintance  with  each  other,  who,  without 
the  disturbance  of  the  public  peace,  meet  together ;"  and  that 
"  General  Assemblies  are  meetings  for  mutual  consultation 
of  many  churches  upon  emergent  occasions."  He  then  treats 
"  of  the  question,  Who  hath  power  to  convene  General 
Assemblies?" — answering  it  by  saying,  that  this  is  equally 
pertaining  to  churches,  and  all  pastors;  but  that  which  calls 
the  Assembly  is,  the  emergency  of  the  occasion."  The 
second  and  third  questions  he  discusses  are  these: — "How 
far  agreements  made  by  a  General  Assembly  do  oblige  the 
churches  concerned  by  their  representatives ;"  and  "  What 
sort  of  Christians  are  to  give  voice  deliberative  and  decisive 
in  General  Councils  and  Assemblies." 

The  "  Orthodox  Creed  "  thus  describes  "  General  Councils  or 
Assemblies :  "  General  Councils,  or  Assemblies,  consisting  of 

*  "  Christianismus  Primitivus :  "  Book  II.  chap.  10,  pp.  132—143. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  193 

bishops,  elders,  and  brethren  of  the  several  churches  of  Christ, 
and  being  legally  convened,  and  met  together  out  of  all  the 
churches,  and  the  churches  appearing  by  their  representa- 
tives, make  but  one  church,  and  have  lawful  rights  and  suffrage 
in  this  general  meeting,  or  Assembly,  to  act  in  the  name  of  Christ , 
it  being  of  Divine  authority,  and  is  the  best  means  under 
heaven  to  preserve  unity,  to  prevent  heresy,  and  superin- 
tendency  among  or  in  any  congregation  whatsoever  within 
its  limits,  or  jurisdiction.  And  to  such  a  meeting,  or 
Assembly,  appeals  ought  to  be  made,  in  case  any  injustice  be 
done,  or  heresy  and  schism  is  countenanced  in  any  particular 
congregation  of  Christ ;  and  the  decisive  voice  in  such  General 
Assemblies  is  the  major  part ;  and  such  General  Assemblies 
have  lawful  power  to  hear  and  determine,  and  also  to  excom- 
municate." (Article  xxxix.) 

The  date  of  the  first  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  is 
uncertain;  but  Mr.  Grantham  speaks  of  Assemblies  in 
1671,  as  already  established  and  approved ;  *  and  in  the 
treatise  just  quoted,  published  in  1678,  he  says,  after  mentioning 
the  meeting  recorded  in  Acts  xv.,  ''according  to  this  precedent," 
(or  as  he  spells  it,  "President,")  the  baptized  churches  in  this 
age  and  nation  (although  unworthy  to  compare  with  those 
worthies)  have  kept  an  Assembly-General  for  many  years,  for 
the  better  settlement  of  the  churches  to  which  they  are 
related."  There  is  no  mention  of  the  General  Assemblies  of 
the  Particular  Baptist  Churches  during  this  period,  except  the 
words  of  Grantham  be  regarded  as  intimating  their  existence. 
The  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  adhered  to  Grantham's 
definition,  and  only  met  on  "  emergent  occasions."  During  a 
period  of  nearly  forty  years  (from  1689  to  1728),  there  were 
only  twenty-two  meetings. 

That    Grantham    had   great   faith   in   the    value    of    these 
Assemblies  is  patent  to  every  reader  of  his  books.     In  one  of 
them  he  thus  writes:  "  They  are,  through  the  blessing  of  God, 
*  "Sigh  for  Peace,"  pp.  130—132. 
O 


194  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


the  best  expedient  under  the  sun  for  composing  divisions  in  the 
churches.  Here  the  liberty  of  Christians  should  be,  yea, 
must  be  maintained;  though  they  differ  right  much  in  their 
opinions  in  matters  of  religion.  We  know  well,  that,  not  only 
the  Christians  in  the  ages  bordering  on  the  primitive,  but  even 
the  Apostles  of  our  Lord,  did  allow  Christians  of  very  different 
persuasions,  freely  to  deliberate  on  things  propounded  in  such 
Assemblies.  For  my  part  I  could  heartily  wish  that  all  the 
congregations  of  Christians  in  the  world,  that  are  baptized 
according  to  the  appointment  of  Christ,  would  make  one  Con- 
sistory, at  least  sometimes,  to  consider  the  matters  in  difference 
between  them.  For  if  this  be  not  admitted,  there  are  no  means 
remaining,  as  I  conceive,  to  heal  their  divisions  ;  and  conse- 
quently to  obtain  that  peace  which  should  rule  in  the  hearts  of 
all  God's  people,  because  they  are  thereunto  called  in  -one 
body." 

The  system  of  Local  Associations  and  General  Assemblies 
gave  rise,  says  Adam  Taylor,*  to  a  custom  of  ajjpeal  from  the 
decision  of  particular  churches.  When  any  member  thought 
himself  aggrieved  by  the  proceedings  of  his  church,  he  might 
appeal  to  two  or  more  neighbouring  churches,  and  ask  them  to 
hear  and  judge  the  case.  If  the  appeal  were  received,  a  meeting 
of  the  deputies  of  each  of  the  religious  societies,  or  churches, 
to  which  the  appeal  was  made,  was  appointed ;  and,  after 
hearing  both  parties  at  length,  judgment  was  given.  But  if 
either  party  still  remained  dissatisfied,  the  whole  question 
could  be  brought  before  the  Local  Association  to  which  they 
belonged.  There  was  yet  a  final  appeal  from  the  Local 
Association  to  the  General  Assembly.  The  discontented  con- 
sidering, after  a  time,  that  they  had  a  right  of  appeal,  and 
differences  becoming  thereby  protracted,  and  a  captious  spirit 
engendered,  the  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  at  length 
resolved  that  no  such  cases  should  be  received  by  them,  unless 
with  the  mutual  consent  and  request  of  all  parties  concerned. 
*  "History  of  the  English  General  Baptists."    Vol.  I.  pp.  460—1. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  195 

A  further  danger  to  the  independence  of  the  individual 
churches  was  checked,  by  restraining  the  power  of  both  Local 
Associations  and  General  Assemblies  to  offering  advice.  The 
decision  therefore,  in  either  case,  only  challenged  respectful 
attention  from  the  wisdom,  experience,  and  piety  of  the 
persons  who  composed  such  meetings.  "  We  ought,"  says 
Grantham,  "  to  consider  with  great  respect,  what  is  concluded 
by  a  General  Council  of  Christ's  true  ministers  ;  yet  we  may 
lawfully  doubt  of  what  they  deliver,  unless  they  confirm  it  by 
the  Word  of  the  Lord." 

The  CafTynite  Controversy. 

A  few  years  before  the  Revolution  what  is  known  as  the 
"  Caffynite  Controversy"  broke  out  among  the  General 
Baptists.  As  it  led  to  a  rupture  in  their  General  Assem- 
bly, and  to  the  formation,  and  continuance  for  some  time  of  a 
rival  body  called  The  General  Association,  it  is  necessary  to 
give  some  brief  account  of  its  origin,  progress,  and  apparent 
termination.  Mr.  Matthew  Caffyn  was  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Horsham,  in  Sussex,  and  is  described  as  a  minister  eminent  for 
his  diligence  and  success,  who  contributed  much  to  the  spread 
of  the  General  Baptist  interest  in  those  parts,  and  had  suffered 
greatly  for  his  attachment  to  it.  He  was  a  man  of  good 
natural  abilities,  which  had  been  improved  by  a  liberal 
education ;  an  expert  disputant  who,  for  half  a  century,  had 
been  considered  the  champion  of  his  party,  and  was  often 
called  to  defend  it  against  able  opponents.  He  also  held  the 
position  of  "  messenger  "  to  the  churches  in  Kent.  Adopting 
opinions  at  variance  with  the  general  sentiments  of  the 
Denomination  on  the  nature  of  Christ,  and  freely  expressing 
them  to  his  friend  Mr.  Joseph  Wright,  of  Maidstone,  his  friend 
thought  it  his  duty  to  sacrifice  private  friendship  to  the  public 
good.  Wright  preferred  a  charge  against  Caffyn  at  the  General 
Assembly  in  1686,  of  denying  both  the  divinity  and  the 
humanity  of  Christ,  and  demanding  that  he  should  be  expelled 

o2 


196  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

from  the  Assembly,  and  from  all  communion  with  the  churches 
therein  represented.  Crosby  says  that  Caffyn,  in  his  answer  to 
these  charges,  "readily  acknowledged  that  there  were  some 
things  in  the  Athanasian  Creed  which  were  above  his  under- 
standing, after  the  most  diligent  and  impartial  examination ; 
and  that  therefore  he  never  had,  nor  could  as  yet  receive  it  as 
the  standard  of  his  faith.  He  insisted  upon  it,  that  the  Holy 
Scriptures  contained  all  that  could  be  necessary  for  a  Christian 
to  believe  and  profess  ;  that  if  he  were  from  hence  catechised 
ever  so  severely  he  should  not  decline  a  free  and  open  declara- 
tion of  his  sentiments;  alleged  his  belief  in  Christ,  as  the  Word, 
in  the  beginning  of  the  creation  of  God;  and  that  he  was  in 
the  highest  imaginable  sense,  God,  consistently  with  that  most 
established  truth,  that  there  can  but  be  one  absolutely 
supreme  God.  He  thought  Christ  was  the  '  God  over  all,' 
intended  by  St.  Paul,  which  he  could  understand  conformably 
to  our  Lord's  own  declarations  concerning  Himself.  That, 
as  to  His  flesh,  He  believed  that  Christ  was  of  the  seed  of 
the  woman,  the  son  and  offspring  of  David,  conceived  indeed 
miraculously,  but  born  of  Mary  in  the  same  natural 
way  as  other  children.  That  it  had  been  his  study 
and  delight  to  exalt  and  honour  his  Saviour,  both  as 
God  and  man,  to  the  highest  degree  of  thought.  That 
he  had  never  disturbed  the  minds  of  any  Christians  about 
unrevealed  sublimities,  but  was  willing  everyone  should 
have  the  same  liberty  and  judgment  which  he  claimed  for 
himself;  that  he  was  far  enough  from  perfection  in  knowledge  ; 
but,  as  his  friends  well  knew,  was  always  open  to  conviction, 
and  thankful  for  every  addition  and  further  light." 

The  Assembly  were  satisfied  with  Caffyn's  explanations,  and 
Mr.  Wright  was  "much  discountenanced  for  his  unbecoming 
reflections,  and  want  of  charity,"  but  did  not  relinquish  his 
purpose ;  and  again  brought  his  charge  against  Mr.  Caffyn  at 
an  Assembly  held  at  Aylesbury,  this  time  being  supported  by  a 
friend  whose  name  is  not  known.     A  second  time  Mr.  Wright 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  197 

failed,  since,  says,  Crosby,  "that  reverend  body  resolved  to 
maintain  amity  and  friendship  with  Mr.  Caffyn,  though  he 
might  vary  a  little  in  some  abstruse  unrevealed  speculations." 
Mr.  Wright  now  withdrew  from  the  Assemblies,  protested 
against  them  all ;  but  the  controversy  did  not  cease.  Mr.  John 
Waller  was  excluded  from  the  Bucks  churches  for  holding 
similar  views,  and  Mr.  Caffyn  wrote  to  support  him  under 
his  persecution.  Caffyn  now  openly  advocated  his  opinions, 
and  talked  freely  of  them  at  the  Assembly  in  1692.  The 
following  year  the  former  charges  were  again  preferred,  backed 
by  Caffyn's  letter  to  Waller,  and  Caffyn's  known  words  uttered 
at  the  last  Assembly.  The  greater  part  of  the  meeting  voted 
that  Mr.  Caffyn  "was  not  guilty  of  the  matters  charged 
against  him;  "  but,  to  establish  their  own  orthodoxy,  declared, 
"  that  the  opinions  ascribed  to  Mr.  Caffyn  were  heresies." 
This  gave  great  offence  to  some;  and  a  spirited  "Protest" 
against  it  was  signed  by  sixteen  "  messengers,  elders  and 
brethren,  representatives  of  several  congregations  in  divers 
parts  of  the  nation,"  in  order  to  "  clear  themselves  and  the 
congregations  to  which  they  belonged  of  those  gross  errors, 
and  of  countenancing  them."  The  Assembly  adjourned  for 
three  years. 

The  General  Association. 

In  1696,  the  subject  was  again  resumed.  The  Protesters 
insisted  on  Mr.  Caffyn's  being  brought  to  trial ;  and  if  found 
guilty  excluded  from  the  communion  of  the  churches  in  the 
Assembly.  A  third  time  the  majority  decided  in  Mr.  Caffyn's 
favour,  re-affirming,  in  fact,  their  former  opinion.  The  Pro- 
testers now  withdrew,  and  soon  after  published  "  The  reasons 
for  their  separation."  They  also  resolved  to  hold  an  annual 
meeting  in  London,  at  the  time  of  the  General  Assembly,  to 
consist  of  the  messengers,  elders,  and  brethren  of  the  churches 
which  approved  of  their  secession.  This  meeting  they  styled 
the  General  Association ;  to  distinguish  it,  as  they  say,  "  from 


ig8  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

particular  associations  held  in  clivers  parts  of  the  country." 
The  first  meeting  was  held  in  May,  1097,  and  was  attended 
by  the  representatives  of  the  churches  of  White's  Alley, 
London ;  Deptford,  Kent ;  Rainham,  Essex ;  Wilbram,  Cam- 
bridgeshire; Aylesbury,  Cuddington,  and  Berkhampstead,  Bucks. 
The  following  year  they  were  joined  by  the  Church  under  Dr. 
W.  Russell,  London,  and  the  congregations  at  Brainford,  Essex, 
and  Ashford,  Kent. 

This  did  not  end  the  dispute.  At  the  Assembly  in  1G97, 
Mr.  Amory  presented  a  letter  from  the  Western  Association, 
earnestly  calling  upon  it  to  bring  Mr.  Caffyn  to  immediate 
examination  ;  and  the  following  year  Mr.  Garrett  brought  up  a 
similar  request  from  the  Northamptonshire  churches,  and 
Mr.  Hooke  from  the  churches  in  Lincolnshire.  Mr.  Caffyn 
is  allowed  to  explain  himself  for  the  fourth  time.  So  un- 
satisfactory were  his  explanations  that  Mr.  Amory  said 
to  Mr.  Caffyn,  before  all  the  Assembly,  "  that  God,  whom 
my  brother  Caffyn  worships,  is  none  of  my  God ;  neither 
will  I  worship  Him.  That  Christ  that  he  worships  is  none 
of  my  Christ;  neither  will  I  worship  Him."  The  old  ex- 
pedient was  again  adopted  ;  the  sentiments  ascribed  to  Mr. 
Caffyn  were  declared  to  be  heretical,  an  investigation,  how- 
ever, being  promised  at  the  next  Assembly  in  1700. 
Meanwhile  several  additional  churches  joined  the  seceders, 
and  others  were  only  waiting  the  issue  of  the  promised 
trial. 

The  trial  came  to  nothing.  An  "  Expedient,"  as  it  was 
called,  was  proposed  as  a  possible  basis  of  union,  not 
only  with  the  seceders  (who  had  already  been  admonished 
as  "walking  disorderly,  and  desired  to  return"),  but  with 
those  who  were  still  dissatisfied  in  the  Assembly.  This 
consisted  of  an  obscure  and  ambiguous  resolution,  drawn 
up  by  four  members  of  the  two  parties  in  the  Assembly, 
and  was  offered  to,  but  rejected  by  the  General  Associa- 
tion.     The    breach  was  now  fast  widening   between  the  dis- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  199 

putanfcs.  In  some  little  temper,  ill  befitting  the  grave 
character  of  the  Assembly,  they  "  agreed  to  stand  by 
what  they  did  in  1696  ;"  and  also  declared  that  those  who 
published  any  of  their  own  "conceptions  concerning  the 
expressions  in  the  'Expedient,'  should  be  regarded  as  dis- 
turbers, and  be  accountable  to  the  Assembly."  Two  years 
afterwards  the  charges  were  again  renewed  by  the  North- 
amptonshire churches ;  and  a  fifth  time  the  Assembly  de- 
clared Mr.  Caftyn's  statements  satisfactory.  The  Northampton- 
shire and  Lincolnshire  churches  now  went  over  in  a  body 
to  the    General   Association. 

A  temporary  reconciliation  was  afterwards  brought  about 
by  a  book  entitled,  A  Vindication  of  the  Ancient  General 
Assembly.  This  book  was  laid  before  the  General  Associa- 
tion meeting  at  White's  Alley,  in  June  8th,  1704 ;  and, 
as  a  consequence,  they  sent  messengers  to  the  General 
Assembly  then  sitting  at  Goodman' s-fields,  inquiring  how 
far  it  was  prepared  to  stand  by  the  overtures  made  in 
the  Vindication.  The  same  day  the  Assembly  replied,  that 
though  they  had  not  in  any  way,  as  a  body,  been  con- 
cerned in  the  publication  of  that  book,  they  accepted  its 
overtures,  and  hoped  the  General  Association  would  also. 
A  conference  ensued  between  four  brethren  from  each 
party ;  a  number  of  articles  of  faith  and  conditions  of 
union  were  drawn  up,  and  agreed  to ;  and  the  next  day, 
the  members  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the  General 
Association   met   as   one  body. 

The  union,  after  all,  was  only  seeming,  and  not  real.  The 
Assembly  had,  throughout,  protested  against  the  errors 
ascribed  to  Mr.  CafFyn,  although  adhering  so  tenaciously  to 
him  ;  but  the  General  Association  determined  that,  upon  the 
first  sign  of  any  breach  of  the  new  basis  of  union,  if  they 
were  refused  a  hearing,  or  could  obtain  no  redress,  they 
would  resume  their  meetings.  This  actually  took  place  a 
few  years  after. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


The  General  Assembly,  thus  seriously  weakened  as  to  num- 
bers, gradually  became  weaker  in  other  ways.  The  con- 
ciliatory and  yet  inflexible  Scripturists  were  succeeded,  as 
one  after  another  the  older  men  were  called  away  to  their 
reward,  by  a  class  of  men  who  carried  their  speculations 
farther  than  Caflyn  ever  ventured.  Greater  prominence  was 
now  given,  by  the  more  popular  and  learned  men,  to  "right 
reason ;"  and  the  liberty  which  insisted  on  retaining  men 
known  to  differ  very  broadly  from  the  earlier  views  of  the 
General  Baptists,  speedily  showed  its  effects.  By  degrees,  the 
majority  of  the  ministers  became  Anti-trinitarians  ;  and  it  is  as 
an  Anti-trinitarian  body  that  the  shadow  of  the  Assembly  of  the 
old  General  Baptists  still  continues  to  meet  in  London  every 
Whitsuntide.  The  Lincolnshire  churches  who  united  in  the 
General  Association  joined  the  New  Connexion  of  General 
Baptists  in  1770,  and  the  other  churches  have  either  dwindled 
away,  or  have,  like  Ashford,  Rainham,  and  others,  become 
united  with  the  various  county  Associations  of  Particular  Bap- 
tist churches. 

The  First  Particular  Baptist  General  Assembly. 

The  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Particular  Baptist 
churches,  "  the  greatest  of  the  Assemblies,"  as  Marlow  calls 
it,  was  the  one  called  by  a  letter  from  the  London  churches, 
the  year  after  the  landing  of  William  of  Orange.  As  it  marks 
a  new  era  in  the  Particular  Baptist  churches,  it  may  not  be 
without  interest  to  quote  the  letter  entire. 

"London,  July  22,  1689. 

"  To  the  Church  of  Christ  at .     Kind  salutations. — We, 

the  elders  aud  ministering  brethren  of  the  churches  in  and 
about  London,  being  several  times  assembled  together,  to 
consider  the  present  state  of  the  Baptized  Congregations,  not 
only  in  this  city,  but  also  in  the  country,  cannot,  but  first  of 
all,  adore  the  divine  wisdom  and  goodness  of  Almighty  God,  in 
respect  of  His  late  most  gracious  Providence,  for  our  deliver- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


ance  from  that  dismal  dispensation  which  threatened  us,  from 
the  continual  and  unwearied  attempt  and  designs  of  the  enemy 
of  our  sacred  religion  and  civil  liberties  ;  by  which  means  our 
sinking  and  drooping  spirits  are  again  revived,  and  our  earnest 
hopes  and  long  expectations  raised  and  afresh  quickened,  in 
respect  of  the  more  full  and  perfect  deliverance  of  the  Church 
of  God,  and  His  more  glorious  appearance,  for  the  accomplish- 
ment of  those  gracious  promises  and  prophecies  contained  in 
the  Holy  Scriptures  relating  to  the  later  days. 

"But,  in  the  second  place,  we  cannot  but  bewail  the  present 
condition  our  churches  seem  to  be  in,  fearing  that  much  of 
that  former  strength,  life,  and  vigour  which  attended  us  is 
gone ;  and  in  many  places  the  interest  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  seems  to  be  much  neglected  which  is  in  our  hands,  and 
the  congregations  to  languish,  and  our  beauty  to  fade  away, 
(which  thing,  we  have  some  ground  to  judge,  you  cannot  but 
be  sensible  of  as  well  as  we) ;  and  from  hence  we  have  been 
put  upon  most  mature  and  serious  considerations  of  such  things 
that  may  be  the  cause  thereof,  and  amongst  others  are  come 
to  this  result — That  the  great  neglect  of  the  present  ministry  is 
one  thing,  together  with  that  general  unconcernedness  there 
generally  seems  to  be  of  giving  fit  and  proper  encouragement 
for  the  raising  up  of  an  able  and  honourable  ministry  for  the 
time  to  come  ;  with  many  other  things  which,  we  hope,  we  are 
not  left  wholly  in  the  dark  about,  which  we  find  we  are  not  in 
a  capacity  to  prevent  and  cure  (as  instruments  in  the  hands  of 
God,  and  His  blessing  attending  our  Christian  endeavours), 
unless  ice  can  obtain  a  general  meeting  here  in  London  of  two 
principal  brethren,  of  everg  church  of  the  same  faith  with  us, 
in  everg  county  respectively.  We  do,  therefore,  humbly  entreat 
and  beseech  you,  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  appoint  two  of 
your  brethren,  one  of  the  ministry,  and  one  principal  brother 
of  your  congregation  with  him,  as  your  messengers,  and  send 
them  up  to  meet  with  the  rest  of  the  elders  and  brethren  of  the 
churches  in  London,  on  the  third  of  September  next ;  and  then 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


we  hope  we  shall  have  that  before  us,  and  be  also  helped  to 
consider  such  things  that  may  much  tend  to  the  honour  of 
God,  and  further  the  peace,  and  well-being,  and  establishment 
at  present,  and  also  the  future  comfort  of  the  churches.  We 
hope  you  will  readily,  notwithstanding  the  charge  [cost],  com- 
ply with  our  pious  and  Christian  desires  herein ;  and,  in  the 
meantime,  to  signify  your  intentions  forthwith  in  a  letter, 
which  we  shall  have  you  direct  to  our  reverend  and  well- 
beloved  brethren,  Mr.  H.  Knollys,  or  Mr.  W.  Kiffin.  This  is 
all,  at  present,  from  us,  your  brethren  and  labourers  in  God's 
vineyard,  who  greet  you  well  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
subscribe  ourselves  your  servants  in  the  Gospel, — 

11  William  Kiffin,  Benjamin  Keach, 

"  Hanseed  Knollys,        Edward  Man, 
"  John  Hakris,  Richard  Adams, 

"  George  Barrett." 
"  Brother  Kiffin  lives  in  White's  Alley,  Little  Moorfields." 

This  letter  was  everywhere  well  received,  and  the  ministers 
and  messengers  of  more  than  a  hundred  churches  in  England 
and  Wales  met  at  the  time  appointed.  The  Assembly  con- 
tinued its  sittings  for  eight  or  nine  days,  was  pervaded  by  a 
solemn,  earnest,  and  united  spirit,  and  transacted  business  of  real 
importance  to  the  welfare  and  prosperity  of  the  churches.  The 
Assembly  afterwards  issued  a  pamphlet,  entitled — The  Narrative 
of  the  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  of  divers  Pastors, 
Messengers,  and  ministering  Brethren  of  the  Baptized  churches, 
met  together  in  London,  from  September  3-12,  1689,  from  divers 
parts  of  England  and  Wales,  owning  the  doctrine  of  personal  elec- 
tion and  final  'perseverance  ;  sent  from,  and  concerned  for  more 
than  a  hundred  congregations  of  the  same  faith  ivitJi  themselr 

The  first  day  was  spent  in  "  humbling  themselves  before  the 
Lord,  and  in  seeking  of  Him  the  right  way  into  the  best  means 
and  method  for  repairing  their  breaches,  and  recovering  them- 
selves into  their  former  order,   beauty,  and  glory."     On  the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  203 

second  day,  they  agreed  upon  certain  preliminaries,  as  the 
foundation  or  rules  of  their  Assembly,  in  order  to  guard 
against  any  misapprehensions  in  the  minds  of  the  members  of 
their  respective  churches,  declaring  that  "  they  disclaimed  all 
manner  of  superiority,  or  superintendency  over  the  churches, 
having  no  authority  or  power  to  prescribe  or  impose  anything 
upon  the  faith  or  practice  of  any  of  the  churches  of  Christ, 
their  whole  intendment  being  to  be  helpers  together  of  one 
another,  by  way  of  counsel  and  advice."  Differences  in  indi- 
vidual churches  "  in  point  of  communion  "  were  to  be  left  un- 
disturbed ;  and  differences  between  one  church  and  another 
were  not  allowed  to  be  debated,  "  until  the  rule  that  Christ 
hath  given  in  the  matter  (Matt,  xviii.  15)  be  first  answered." 
Even  their  advice  is  regarded  as  "  not  binding  to  any  one 
church  till  the  consent  of  that  church  be  first  had,  and  they 
conclude  the  same  among  themselves."  Moreover,  "  all  things 
offered  by  way  of  counsel  and  advice  were  to  be  proved  out  of 
the  Word  of  God,  and  the  (particular)  Scripture  annexed." 
The  "  breviates  "  of  the  meeting  were  to  be  transcribed  and 
sent  to  every  particular  church,  with  a  letter.  Each  person 
was  to  present  to  the  Assembly  his  letter  of  recommendation 
from  the  church  to  which  he  belonged,  and  none  were  to  be 
permitted  to  speak  without  the  general  consent  of  the 
Assembly.  After  the  letters  from  the  several  churches  were 
read,  and  prayer  offered,  the  meeting  adjourned. 

On  the  third  day  and  following  days  various  business  was 
transacted.  The  first  related  to  the  establishment  of  a  Baptist 
fund.  It  was  agreed,  that  it  should  be  originated  as  "  a  free 
will  offering,  to  be  collected  with  all  convenient  speed;"  and 
that  this  fund  should  be  kept  up  by  annual  collections  in  each 
church,  "  weekly,  monthly,  or  quarterly,  according  to  their 
own  convenience."  The  fund  itself  was  to  be  devoted  to  the 
following  purposes  :— first,  to  help  the  weaker  churches  in 
the  maintenance  of  their  ministers,  so  that  they  (the  ministers) 
might   give    themselves    wholly    to    preaching    the     Gospel ; 


2o4  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

secondly,  "  to  send  ministers  that  are  ordained,  or  at  least 
solemnly  called  to  preach,  both  in  city  and  country,  where  the 
Gospel  hath,  or  hath  not  yet  been  preached,  and  to  visit  the 
churches " — the  ministers  to  be  selected  by  at  least  two 
churches  in  London  or  the  country;  and,  thirdly,  "  to  assist 
those  members  that  shall  be  found  in  any  of  the  churches 
that  are  disposed  for  study,  have  an  inviting  gift,  and  are 
sound  in  fundamentals,  in  attaining  to  the  knowledge  and 
understanding  of  the  languages,  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew." 

Then  followed  the  discussion  of  numerous  questions  pro- 
posed to  the  General  Assembly  by  the  several  churches.  It  is 
significant  that  the  very  first  question  discussed  was  the  ever- 
recurring  one  even  now — "  Whether  it  be  not  expedient  for 
churches  that  live  near  toyether,  and  consisting  of  small  members, 
and  are  not  able  to  maintain  their  own  ministry,  to  join  toyether 
for  the  better  and  more  comfortable  support  of  their  ministry,  and 
the  better  edification  one  of  another?"  Of  course  the  Assembly 
answered  in  the  affirmative.  The  duty  of  each  church  to  pro- 
vide "  a  comfortable  maintenance  for  the  minister,  according  to 
its  ability,"  was  also  agreed  upon  in  the  same  way;  likewise 
the  propriety  of  each  church  '"to  provide  itself  with  such  a 
minister,  and  solemnly  set  him  apart  his  office."  The  fourth 
question  reads  curiously  by  the  light  of  our  own  day — 
"  Whether  baptized  believers  are  not  at  liberty  to  hear  any 
sober  and  pious  men  of  the  Independent  and  Presbyterian  per- 
suasions when  they  have  no  opportunity  to  attend  upon  the 
preaching  of  the  Word  in  their  own  assembly,  or  have  no 
other  to  preach  to  them?"  The  "  breviates  "  say,  "Con- 
cluded affirmatively.     Acts  xviii.  24,  25,  26."* 

*  The  General  Baptists  substantially  agreed  with  them  on  this  point.  A: 
the  General  Association  in  1701,  "Brother  James  Clarke  complained  of  some 
that  neglected  their  duty  in  assembling  with  the  church,  and  go  to  hear  Pres- 
byterian ministers  at  such  times  as  the  church  is  assembled."  The  General 
Association  declared  that  "  it  was  the  duty  of  the  members  to  assemble  with 
the  church;  and  that  all  that  were  negligent  therein  should  be  admonished  to 
make  good  their  places." — MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Association,  Vol.  I.  p.  29. 


BYE-PATHS  IN   BAPTIST  HISTORY.  205 

Of  the  other  questions  on  which  an  opinion  was  asked,  these 
were  some  :  the  unlawfulness  of  delaying  the  ordination  of 
"  gifted  brethren  "  for  many  years,  whether  for  the  office  of 
elder  or  deacon ;  the  observance  of  the  apostolic  rule  about 
marriage  (1  Cor.  vii.  89) ;  the  evil  of  neglecting  the  services 
agreed  upon  by  the  church  ;  and  how  persons  are  to  be  dealt 
with  who  "  will  not  communicate  to  the  necessary  expenses  of 
the  church  whereof  they  are  members,  according  to  their 
ability."  The  last  question  the  Assembly  thus  answered — 
"  Resolved,  that  upon  clear  proof,  the  persons  so  offending,  as 
aforesaid,  should  be  duly  admonished  ;  and  if  no  reformation 
appears,  the  church  ought  to  withdraw  from  them.  Ephe. 
v.  3  ;  Matt.  xxv.  42  ;  1  John  iii.  7."*  Persons  who  withdrew 
from  "  the  fellowship  of  any  particular  church,  and  joined 
themselves  to  the  communion  of  the  National  Church,"  the 
Assembly  suggested  should  "  be  reclaimed  by  all  due  means  of 
instruction  and  admonition  ;"  and  if  not  reclaimed,  rejected. 
They  affirmed,  in  answer  to  other  questions,  that  believers 
were  actually  reconciled,  justified,  or  adopted,  when  they  are 
really  implanted  in  Jesus  Christ  by  faith ;  that  the  first  day  of 
the  week  should  be  religiously  observed  as  the  Lord's  Day ; 
that  the  excess  of  luxury  in  dress  was  "  a  shame  and  scandal, 
and  needed  reformation ;"  that  it  was  an  unquestionable 
advantage  "  for  our  brethren  now  in  the  ministry,  to  obtain  a 
competent  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  tongues, 
that  they  may  be  the  better  capable  of  defending  the  truth 
against  opposers ;"    and  that  "  an  elder  of  one  church  may 

*  The  General  Assembly  of  General  Baptists  eight  years  after  (1697),  sug- 
gest another  method  of  meeting  this  kind  of  remissness :  "  It  is  the  agreement 
and  advice  of  this  Assembly  that  the  deacons,  or  such  as  are  deacons,  in 
every  congregation,  in  receiving  the  church's  collection,  do  take  notice  of  the 
particular  receipts;  namely,  from  whom,  and  what;  and  if  they  observe  any 
members  to  be  short  therein,  to  advise  and  admonish  to  more  liberalitie ;  and 
if  not,  to  acquaint  the  churches  themselves  with  that,  so  that  there  may  be  an 
equality  in  the  performance  of  that  great  duty. — MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General 
Assembly,  Vol.  I.  p.  12. 


206  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

administer  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord's  Supper  to  another 
church  of  the  same  faith,  being  called  so  to  do  by  the  said 
church,  necessity  only  being  considered." 

In  addition  to  the  transaction  of  this  business,  the  Assembly 
agreed  upon  a  vindication  of  themselves,  as  a  whole,  "  against 
taking  any  part  in  recognising  the  dispensing  power  "  claimed 
by  James  the  First,  proclaimed  their  abhorrence  of  his  arbi- 
trary acts,  and  announced  their  hearty  determination  (i  to 
venture  their  all  for  the  Protestant  religion,  and  the  liberties  of 
their  native  country."  That  a  few  congregations  should  have 
taken  advantage  of  this  "  dispensing  power,"  they  urged,  was 
no  reason  for  laying  "  the  whole  party  under  reproach  and 
infamy."  They  thus  conclude  their  minute  on  this  subject : — 
"  We  do,  with  great  thankfulness  to  God,  acknowledge  His 
special  goodness  to  these  nations  in  raising  up  our  present 
King  William,  to  be  a  blessed  instrument  in  His  hand  to  deliver 
us  from  Popery  and  arbitrary  power,   and  shall  always,  as  in 

bduty  bound,  pray  the  Lord  may  continue  him,  and  his  royal 
consort,  long  to  be  a  blessing  to  these  kingdoms  ;  and  shall 
always  be  ready,  to  the  utmost  of  our  ability,  in  our  places,  to 
join  our  hearts  and  hands,  with  the  rest  of  our  Protestant 
brethren,  for  the  preservation  of  the  Protestant  religion,  and 
the  liberties  of  the  nation." 

The  Assembly  advised  the  churches  to  read  the  London 
Confession  of  Faith  ;  affirmed  their  approval  of  u  a  certain 
little  book,  lately  recommended  by  divers  elders  dwelling 
in  and  about  the  City  of  London,  entitled,  The  Minister's 
Maintenance  Vindicated"  (written  by  Benjamin  Keach),  urging 
that  it  be  "  dispersed  among  all  our  several  congregations  ;"  and 
agreed  upon  a  "circular  letter"  to  the  churches  generally,  in 
which  they  recommended  the  adoption  of  a  general  fast  for 
the  tenth  of  October,  next  ensuing,  setting  forth  their  reasons 
for  its  appointment.  The  chief  reasons  are  these  : — "  The 
decay  among  the  churches  of  first  love,  faith  and  zeal  for 
the  ways   and   worship  of  God  ;    the  length   of  time  during 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  207 


which  this  decay  had  been  going  on ;  and  the  many  more 
judgments  which  God  had  brought  upon  the  nation ;  the 
need  for  penitence,  and  the  out-pouring  of  God's  Spirit, 
that  they  may  understand  whereabouts  they  are ; "  and 
the  call  for  "  earnest  cries  and  supplications  to  the  Lord 
for   the   lineal  seed    of  Abraham,    the   poor   Jews." 

The  letter  was  signed  by  thirty  brethren,  "in  the  name 
and  behalf  of  the  whole  Assembly;"  and  the  meeting 
broke  up,  with  the  agreement  that  the  next  General 
Assembly  should  be  held  "  at  London,  on  that  day  which 
is   called    Whitsun   Monday,   1690." 

The  proceedings  had  been  opened  and  concluded  every 
day  with  solemn  prayer.  The  total  number  of  persons 
actually  present  was  one  hundred  and  fifty;  and  so 
thoroughly  united  were  they  in  heart  and  mind,  that  at 
the  close,  they  could  say, — "  Scarcely  one  brother  dis- 
sented from  the  Assembly  in  the  sentiments  of  his  mind 
in  any  one  thing  proposed  to  their  serious  considera- 
tions." 

The  Second  and  Third  Particular  Baptist  General 
Assemblies. 

The  next  meeting  assembled  in  June,  1690,  and  continued 
its  sittings  from  the  ninth  to  the  sixteenth ;  and  a  third 
was  held  in  the  same  month  in  the  year  following.  From 
some  remarks  made  in  the  letter  to  the  churches  written 
by  this  third  Assembly,  it  appears  that  the  attendance  of 
the  country  brethren  had  not  been  so  numerous  at  this  as 
at  the  preceding  Assemblies.  "Let  not  the  incident  charges 
you  are  exposed  to,"  say  they,  in  inviting  those  "  who 
live  in  the  country  to  send  up  their  particular  messengers" 
to  the  next  meeting,  "be  a  discouragement,  we  being  per- 
suaded that  our  friends  in  the  City  who  are  not  liable 
to  such  charges,  will  make  a  compensation  by  a  more  liberal 
contributing  to  the  public    stock."     In    these  days   of   quick 


208  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


travelling  to  London,  and  at  surprisingly  cheap  rates  as  com- 
pared with  an)T  other  time,  it  is  difficult  to  understand  the 
cost  and  trouble  of  a  journey  nearly  two  hundred  years  ago 
to  the  metropolis  from  Wales,  or  from  the  most  northerly 
parts  of  England.  The  chief  business  transacted  at  the  third 
General  Assembly  related  to  the  Particular  Baptist  Fund. 

At  this  time  (1691),  there  were  at  least  a  dozen  Local 
Associations  of  the  Particular  Baptist  Denominations  in  Eng- 
land and  Wales  :  London,  Middlesex,  Kent  and  Essex  formed 
one  ;  the  churches  in  Somerset,  Dorset,  Wilts,  Gloucester 
and  Bristol  a  second  ;  the  churches  in  Oxfordshire  and 
Berks  a  third ;  Norfolk  and  Sufiblk  a  fourth ;  the  Devon 
churches  a  fifth  ;  half  a  dozen  churches  in  Yorkshire,  Cum- 
berland and  Northumberland,  a  sixth  ;  the  Hampshire  churches 
a  seventh;  Herts,  Bucks  and  Bedford  an  eighth;  Stepton  and 
Haddenham  a  ninth ;  seven  churches  in  South  Wales  and 
Hereford  a  tenth  ;  Carmarthenshire  an  eleventh ;  Worcester, 
Warwick,  part  of  Oxford,  Leicester  and  part  of  Hereford  a 
twelfth,  there  being  only  six  churches  at  that  time  in  the 
whole  of  these  counties ;  Brooinsgrove,  Warwick,  Dimock, 
Hereford,  Tewkesbury,  Moreton-in-the-Marsh,  Hook  Norton, 
Alcester,  and  Ealby. 

The  Fourth  Particular  Baptist  General  Assembly. 

The  fourth  General  Assembly  met  in  London  in  May,  1692. 
The  associated  churches  then  numbered  one  hundred  and 
seven.  As  the  Local  Associations  seemed  to  have  lessened 
the  interest  felt  in  the  General  Assembly,  by  supplying  a 
nearer  and  readier  means  of  fraternization  and  counsel,  the 
following  resolutions  were  adopted  : — 

"  1.  That  whereas,  for  some  years  past,  the  churches  have 
had  several  associate  and  county  meetings,  and  one  General 
one  in  London  annually,  it  is  now  proposed  to  divide 
this  General  meeting  into  two,  and  to  keep  one  in  the 
west,  and  another  in  the  east:    that   in   the  west  to    be   at 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  2cg 

Bristol,  and  the  other  in  London.  It  is  desired  that  all  the 
churches  will  send  messengers  once  a  year,  as  may  be  most 
for  their  conveniency :  and  that  either  from  their  particular 
churches,  or  those  that  live  remote  from  such  Associations 
as  they  think  meet  to  keep.  2.  That  the  meeting  at 
Bristol  be  kept  annually  at  the  time  called  Easter ;  and 
that  at  London  at  the  time  called  Whitsuntide.  3.  That 
two  messengers  be  sent  down  from  London  every  time  to 
that  at  Bristol,  and  also  two  sent  up  from  that  at  Bristol 
to   London,   for  the  maintaining   of    General     Communion." 

Again  the  Assembly  showed  great  anxiety  about  "  the 
fund"  for  " keeping  those  ministers  that  are  poor,"  and 
"  for  the  education  of  those  brethren  that  may  be  approved 
to  learn  the  knowledge  of  those  tongues  wherein  the  Scrip- 
tures are  written."  Churches  were  urged,  "for  the  better 
keeping  up  of  the  fund,  to  make  their  collections  quarterly." 

Something  of  the  difficulty  already  felt  by  the  General 
Baptists  in  their  Assembly  now  began  to  trouble  the 
Particular  Baptists ;  and  they  also  guarded  themselves  from 
degenerating  into  a  Court  of  Appeal  by  agreeing  ;  (1)  that 
these  Assemblies  are  not  to  be  accountable  to  one  another 
any  more  than  churches  are.  (2)  That  no  churches  make 
appeals  to  them  to  determine  matters  of  faith  or  fact ;  but  pro- 
pose or  query  for  advice."  The  question  about  "  singing 
the  praises  of  God  in  public  Assemblies"  was  referred 
by  this  Assembly  to  seven  brethren ;  but  the  account  of 
this   we    shall   give   in   a   subsequent  chapter. 

Although  there  were  only  one  hundred  and  seven  churches 
represented  in  this  fourth  Assembly,  it  must  not  be  sup- 
posed that  the  whole  of  the  churches  in  England  "owning 
the  doctrines  of  personal  election  and  final  perseverance" 
accepted  the  invitation.  There  were  many  churches  in 
Bedfordshire,  for  example,  founded  by  the  labours  of  John 
Bunyan,  which  were  not  included.  The  "  prince  of 
allegorists,"   as    Macaulay    styles    Bunyan,    did    not    make 


210  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

baptism  by  immersion  on  a  profession  of  faith  a  condition 
of  church  fellowship ;  in  which  he  was  also  supported  by 
Henry  Jessey  and  Vavasor  Powell ;  but  the  brethren  who 
were  united  together  in  this  General  Assembly  were 
chiefly  on  the  opposite  side,  and  both  William  Kiffin  and 
Henry  d'Anvers  among  the  Calvinistic  Baptists,  and  Henry 
Denne  among  the  General  Baptists,  wrote  with  some 
bitterness,  at  least,  so  Bunyan  tells  us,  in  favour  of  their 
opinions. 

The  Fifth  Particular  Baptist  General  Assembly. 

The  fifth  General  Assembly  met  at  Bristol  the  following 
April.  The  first  day  was  spent  u  in  solemnly  seeking  the  face 
of  God  in  prayer,  for  counsel,  advice,  and  guidance  "  in  their 
work.  "  On  the  second  day,  after  seeking  the  Lord,  the  letters 
from  the  several  churches  were  read,  and  a  particular  relation 
of  the  state  of  all  the  churches  was  given  in  by  their  several 
messengers.  Some  questions  were  proposed,  and  the  meeting 
was  dismissed,  with  the  blessing  of  God." 

The  remaining  days  during  which  the  Assembly  continued 
its  sittings  were  spent  in  discussing  the  various  questions 
proposed  to  it  by  the  different  churches.  Chief  among  these 
were  some  touching  certain  "  irregularities,"  as  they  were 
deemed,  which  had  crept  into  the  churches,  in  regard  to  the 
administration  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord's  Supper  and 
baptism.  The  Assembly  declared  "  that  no  private  brother 
(however  gifted),  if  not  solemnly  called  to  the  ministerial 
office,  and  separated  thereto,  ought  to  administer  "  either  the 
one  or  the  other  ;  but  an  elder  might,  "  called  to  the  office  by 
the  suffrage  of  the  church,  who  had  not  yet  been  ordained  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands."  They  were  equally  emphatic  in 
discouraging  men  "who,  being  vainly  puffed  up  with  their 
fleshly  minds,  did  presume  to  preach  publicly,  without  being 
solemnly  called  and  appointed  by  the  church  thereto."  "  We 
advise  and  desire,"   say  they,    (i  that  every  particular  church 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  211 


would  do  what  in  them  lies  to  discountenance  this  practice, 
and  to  prevent  all  such  from  exercising  their  pretended  gift,  it 
being  contrary  to  Romans  x.  15.  And  also  that  they  would 
not  send  forth,  nor  suffer,  any  person  among  themselves  to 
preach  publicly,  of  whose  qualification  they  had  not  had  suffi- 
cient trial,  and  whom  they  had  not  called  thereto  ;  that  the 
name  of  God  may  not  be  dishonoured,  the  peace  of  the 
churches  disturbed,  nor  the  reputation  of  the  ministry 
blemished." 

The  question  of  "  the  education  of  youth,"  had  also  been 
troubling  some  of  the  older  men.  They  were  afraid  that  this 
constant  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Assembly  to  encourage  and 
help  young  men  in  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  and 
Greek  languages,  sprang  out  of  a  mistaken  preference  for 
human  learning ;  or,  at  any  rate,  an  opinion  that  they  regarded 
such  learning  as  "  equal  with  the  gifts  of  the  Spirit."  The 
Assembly  quieted  the  nerves  of  these  less  educated  brethren, 
by  declaring,  that  "  they  abhor  and  detest  any  such  principle 
and  practice  ;  "  regard  "  the  gift  of  edification  as  a  distinct 
thing  from  acquired  parts  ;  "  are  not  ignorant  of  the  fact 
"  that  men  may  attain  the  greatest  degrees  in  human  learning, 
and  yet,  notwithstanding,  be  ignorant  of  Christ  and  His  glo- 
rious Gospel."  They  are  also  quite  willing  to  confess  "  that 
God  does  sometimes  bestow  greater  gifts,  for  the  edification  of 
His  Church,  on  some  who  have  not  attained  a  knowledge  of 
the  tongues,  than  He  doth  on  some  others  who  have;  "  "that 
still  the  churches  of  Jesus  Christ  should  improve  what  gifts 
they  have,  and  pray  for  more."  Of  course  it  was  "a  great 
snare  and  very  dangerous,"  to  think  that  "  the  hidden  wisdom 
of  God"  could  be  comprehended  by  mere  human  learning;  and 
it  was  "  a  great  abuse  of  such  learning,  if  it  puffed  men  up, 
made  them  lean  upon  it,  and  despise  the  brethren  who  had  the 
gift  of  edification,  but  lacked  their  education."  "  The  know- 
ledge of  tongues,  moreover,  is  not  essential,  or  absolutely 
necessary,  to  constitute  a  minister  of  the  Gospel;"  and  yet 

p2 


212  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

"  they  dare  not  limit  the  Holy  One,  who  bestows  gifts  for  edifica- 
tion upon  the  learned,  as  xcell  as  upon  the  unlearned." 

The  Sixth  Particular  Baptist  General  Assembly. 

The  sixth  General  Assembly  was  held  in  London  in  June  of 
the  same  year;  that  is,  two  months  later  than  the  meeting  at 
Bristol.  Andrew  Gifford  and  George  Fownes  (the  last  died 
in  Gloucester  Jail)  were  the  Bristol  delegates.  The  first 
and  second  days  were  spent  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  first 
and  second  days  at  Bristol.  The  four  remaining  days  were 
given  up  to  business.  The  rules  of  the  first  Assembly  were 
now  somewhat  relaxed:  ''Every  one  had  liberty  to  speak 
without  interruption;"  and  difference  of  opinion  would  be 
listened  to  "  if  expressed  with  Christian  charity."  After  read- 
ing and  assenting  to  the  minutes  of  the  Bristol  Assembly,  they 
again  determined  "  to  continue  and  uphold  the  Fund."  It  was 
also  agreed,  "that  a  Catechism  be  drawn  up,  containing  the 
substance  of  the  Christian  religion,  for  the  instruction  of 
children  and  servants."  From  his  knowledge  and  judgment, 
"William  Collins,  the  pastor  of  the  church  in  Petty  France, 
was  wisely  selected  to  draw  up  this  Catechism,  many  editions 
of  which  were  afterwards  published.  "It  continues  to  be," 
wrote  Dr.  Underhill  in  1854,  ;"  the  only  Catechism  of  value 
among  (Particular)  Baptists."  In  the  preface  to  this 
Catechism,  it  is  declared  that,  as  their  Confession  "  was  almost 
in  all  points  the  same  as  that  of  the  (Westminster)  Assembly 
and  Savoy;"  so,  in  this  "shorter  account  of  Christian 
principles,"  there  is  a  close  agreement  with  the  shorter 
Catechism  of  the  Assembly."  The  only  other  item  of  business 
was  a  resolution  agreeing  "that  the  Confession  of  the  baptized 
churches  of  the  last  impression  should  be  translated  into  Latin, 
with  all  convenient  speed  ;"  a  resolution  which  seems  to  have 
remained  a  dead  letter. 

The  seventh  General  Assembly  met  in  Bristol  in  April  1694. 
From  the  letter  which  they  addressed  to  the  London  churches, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  213 

it  is  evident  that  their  old  affection  for  these  General  Assem- 
blies had  declined.  The  Bristol  brethren  wrote  to  say  "  that 
they  were  grieved  that  the  very  men  who,  a  few  years  ago, 
had  done  so  much  to  promote  Associations,"  had  grown  luke- 
warm in  regard  to  them;  that  they  were  "troubled"  at  the 
delay  in  the  publication  of  the  Catechism,  which  the  London 
churches  "  had  minuted  that  brother  Collins  should  draw  up  ;" 
and  hoped  thousands  would  be  soon  printed,  "  and  sent  abroad 
to  the  churches." 

From  this  time  we  hear  no  more  of  the  General  Assemblies 
of  the  Particular  Baptists  in  London  ;  but  the  Western  half  of 
the  Assembly  continued  to  meet  annually  from  1696  to  1730, 
and  the  records  have  been  preserved  of  every  year  but  one 
between  those  dates. 

The  London  Association. 

In  1702  the  Western  Association  met  at  Trowbridge,  at 
which  it  was  agreed  "  that  a  letter  should  be  sent  to  the 
London  churches  to  excite  them  to  renew  their  association 
with  the  churches  in  the  country."  This  was  not  the  first 
time  that  the  Western  brethren  had  striven  to  fan  the  expiring 
zeal  of  the  London  churches,  and  it  is  hard  to  conjecture  what 
led  the  latter  to  pass  over  in  silence  these  various  overtures. 
But  though  the  appeals  did  not  lead  to  a  renewal  of  the  con- 
nection between  the  two,  it  incited  the  ministers  in  London  to 
form  an  Association  of  their  own  churches.  In  1704  thirteen 
churches  agreed  to  this  proposal,  and  met  on  the  17th  of  April, 
at  Lorimers'  Hall.  These  were — Broad-street,  Old  Gravel- 
lane,  Wapping  ;  Pinner's  Hall ;  Goat  Yard-passage,  Horsley 
Down,  Southwark;  Pennington-street,  Virginia- street;  Church- 
lane,  Limehouse;  Artillery-lane,  Spitalfields ;  Paul's,  Shadwell; 
Devonshire-square;  Little  Wild-street ;  B agnio- court ;  Collier's 
Kents,  White-street,  Southwark;  Lorimers'  Hall;  and  Joiners' 
Hall,  Friars'-lane,  Thames-street.  Kev.  John  Piggot,  minister 
of  Little  Wild-street,  preached  a  sermon  from  Rom.  xiv.  19, 


214  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


which  was  afterwards  printed  under  the  title,  "Union  and 
Peace  recommended."  Rev.  Richard  Adams,  minister  of 
Devonshire -square  (formerly  incumbent  of  the  parish  church 
Humberstone,  near  Leicester,  and  one  of  Cromwell's  Triers), 
was  chosen  moderator.  The  letters  from  the  churches  were 
read,  each  of  which  submitted  some  subjects  for  the  discussion 
and  decision  of  the  Association.  To  regulate  the  business,  it 
was  at  once  agreed  that  whatever  the  Assembly  might  adopt 
should  only  be  regarded  as  advice,  and  not  be  binding  on  the 
churches  any  further  than  they  should  severally  determine  ; 
that  each  speaker  should  stand  up,  "  address  his  discourse  to 
the  moderator,  and  no  other  person  shall  speak  until  he  sits 
down ;  that  no  opinion  wherein  any  of  the  churches  repre- 
sented in  this  Assembly  diifer  from  the  rest  shall  be  contro- 
verted in  the  Assembly;"  and  that  "the  several  matters 
recommended  to  the  consideration  of  this  Assembly  by  letters 
from  the  churches  shall  be  considered  in  the  same  order  in 
which  the  letters  were  received." 

The  meetings  lasted  three  days.  Various  questions  affecting 
the  welfare  of  the  London  churches  were  discussed.  One 
referred  to  the  rule  to  be  observed  in  the  reception  by  one 
church  of  members  from  another.  It  was  suggested  that  such 
reception  "  should  not  be  without  recommendation,  or,  at  least, 
without  sending  messengers  to  the  church  from  which  such 
persons  come;"  and  that  the  reasons  for  desiring  such  dismis- 
sion should  also  be  sent  to  the  church  to  which  they  belong. 
Another  tried  to  check  the  migratory  tendency  of  London 
churches,  "  the  flying  camp,"  as  the  Rev.  John  Newton 
designated  them.  The  Assembly  agreed  :  "  That  the  members 
of  each  church  ought  ordinarily  to  attend  the  worship  of  God 
in  the  church  to  which  they  stand  related,  and  to  make  a 
common  practice  of  deserting  the  assemblies  to  which  they 
belong," — for  the  sake  of  running  hither  and  thither  after  other 
ministers,  however  gifted — "is  a  great  discouragement  to  the 
ministers  of  their  churches :  that  it  occasions  the  neglect  of 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  215 

the  poor  among  them,  and  that  the  continuance  of  such  a  prac- 
tice has  a  tendency  to  weaken,  and  will,  perhaps,  in  time, 
issue  in  the  dissolution  of  some  churches."  A  third  subject 
arose  out  of  the  separations  and  secessions  which  occasionally 
take  place  in  Congregational  churches  ;  partly  upon  a  change 
of  ministers ;  and  partly  through  a  difference  of  judgment  on 
matters  of  doctrine  or  discipline.  To  meet  such  cases,  it  was 
resolved  :  "  That  in  case  the  minor  part  of  any  church  break  off 
their  communion  from  that  church,  the  church  state  is  to  be 
accounted  to  remain  with  the  major  part.  And  in  case  the 
major  part  of  any  church  be  fundamentally  corrupted  with 
heresy  and  immorality,  the  minor  part  .may  and  ought  to  sepa- 
rate from  such  a  degenerate  society;  and  either  join  them- 
selves to  some  regular  church  or  churches,  or  else,  if  they  are 
a  competent  number,  constitute  a  church  state  by  a  solemn 
covenant  among  themselves."  A  fourth  subject  sprang  out  of 
the  controversy  then  raging  about  Dr.  Tobias  Crisp's  Anti- 
nomian  sermons.  Here  is  a  single  specimen  of  his  opinions: — 
"  Let  me-  speak  freely  to  you  ;  and,  in  doing  so,  tell  you  that 
the  Lord  hath  no  more  to  lay  to  an  elect  person ;  yet,  in  the 
height  of  iniquity,  and  in  the  excess  of  riot,  and  committing  all 
the  abominations  that  can  be  committed,  I  say,  even  then,  when 
an  elect  person  runs  such  a  course,  the  Lord  hath  no  more  to 
lay  to  that  person's  charge  than  God  hath  to  lay  to  the  sin  of 
the  believer;  nay,  God  hath  no  more  to  lay  to  the  charge  of 
that  person  than  He  hath  to  lay  to  the  charge  of  a  saint 
triumphant  in  glory  "  This  abominable  doctrine,  utterly  sub- 
versive of  all  morality,  greatly  shocked  the  London  Assembly, 
and  by  the  following  decision  they  strongly  condemned  Crisp's 
Antinomian  principles,  and  supported  the  principles  which  were 
called,  by  his  friends,  the  Neonomian  opinions.  They  said: — 
"  It  is  the  opinion  of  this  Assembly  that  the  doctrine  of  sancti- 
fication  by  the  impartation  of  the  holiness  of  Christ's  nature 
does,  in  its  consequences,  render  inherent  holiness  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  unnecessary,  and  tends  to  overthrow  natural,  as  well  as 


216  DYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

revealed  religion."  A  fifth  subject  referred  to  the  maintenance 
of  ministers.  During  the  time  of  persecution  under  the 
Stuarts,  many  ministers  had  followed  some  secular  calling,  and 
had  not  received  any  income  from  their  churches.  The  men 
who  followed  them  often  found  the  people  unable,  perhaps, 
also,  unwilling,  to  furnish  what  the  first  General  Assembly 
calls,  in  its  Confession,  "a  comfortable  supply."  Either,  there- 
fore, with  a  view  of  shaming  the  churches  into  a  more  generous 
treatment  of  their  ministers;  or,  in  order  to  supplement  the 
narrow  and  inadequate  income  they  received,  the  following 
resolution  was  adopted — "  That  it  be  recommended  to  the 
several  associate  churches  represented  by  this  Assembly,  that 
each  church  do  make  an  annual  collection  for  the  relief  of  such 
ministers  in  and  about  London,  dwelling  within  the  bills  of 
mortality,  as  have  but  a  small  allowance  from  the  churches  to 
which  they  belong.''  The  sixth  matter  of  business  referred 
to  the  imposition  of  hands  at  the  ordination  of  elders  and 
deacons;  the  Assembly  declared  it  to  be  "an  ordinance  of 
Jesus  Christ  still  in  force."  The  seventh  subject  related  to 
the  education  of  ministers.  A  fund  for  this  special  purpose 
was  deemed  "highly  useful,"  in  order  the  better  to  fit  for  the 
ministry  "those  who  are  blessed  with  promising  gifts;  and 
also  for  furnishing  others,  who  have  not  time  to  attain  to  a 
knowledge  of  the  tongues,  and  some  other  parts  of  useful  learn- 
ing, with  such  English  books  as  may  be  thought  most  proper 
for  their  assistance  and  improvement."  Each  church  was  re- 
commended, for  this  purpose,  either  to  make  collections,  or 
offer  subscriptions.  The  eighth  resolution  enjoined  the  frequent 
observance  "  of  days  of  fasting  and  prayer,  as  much  tending  to 
the  edification  of  the  churches;"  and  suggested  that  not  only 
should  "  each  congregation  "  set  apart  such  days,  but  that  it 
would  "  sometimes  be  better  for  several  churches  to  assemble 
together,  when  this  can  be  conveniently  attained."  It  is, 
therefore,  apparent  how  anxious  the  London  Assembly  was  to 
promote  the  peace  and  permanent  welfare  of  the  churches. 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  217 

The  next  meeting  was  held  at  Joiners'  Hall,  in  March,  1705. 
For  some  cause  or  other  four  out  of  the  thirteen  churches  had 
meanwhile  withdrawn  from  the  London  Assembly — Broad- 
street,  Devonshire-square,0  Bagnio-court,  and  Lorimers'  Hall; 
and  that  only  one  other  church  in  London  had  joined  them  : 
Paul's-alley,  Barbican,  of  which  Mr.  Richard  Allen  was 
minister..  There  were  several  other  churches  in  London,  but 
they  also  stood  aloof,  perhaps  afraid  of  the  possible  attempt  to 
infringe  upon  their  congregational  liberty,  or  weary  with  the 
too  frequent  discussions  which  unwise  and  self-willed  men  had 
caused  in  them. 

Rev.  Joseph  Stennett  was  the  preacher,  and  was  also  chosen 
moderator  at  this  second  meeting  of  the  London  Assembly. 
After  the  reading  of  the  letters  from  the  churches,  four 
brethren — John  Ward,  pastor  of  Luton;  Ebenezer  Wilson, 
just  invited  from  Broadmead,  by  the  church  near  Spitalfields  ; 
Mark  Key,  assistant  minister  of  Devonshire-square  church ;  and 
Benjamin  Cooper,  of  Broad-street,  Wapping — requested  to  be 
present,  a  request  which  was  at  once  complied  with.  The 
preliminary  articles  of  the  former  meeting  were  re-adopted,  and 
also  the  circular  letter.  They  were  called  upon  to  act  on  the 
suggestion  made  in  reference  to  secessions  at  the  first  meeting ; 
the  particular  case  being  that  of  a  congregation  at  Winchester 
House,  near  St.  Mary  Overie's  Dock,  Southwark.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  congregation  were  chiefly  seceders  from  other 
churches  in  London,  and  who  held  what  our  Baptist  historian 
calls  "  the  unscriptural  crudities  and  unhallowed  opinions  of 
Dr.  Crisp." 

How  long  the  London  Assembly  continued  its  meetings  is  not 

on  record,  but  it  has  been  conjectured  that  it  dwindled  away 

after  the  deaths  of  Mr.  Joseph  Stennett,  and  Mr.  John  Piggott, 

who  both  died  in  1713,  and  within  a  few  months  of  each  other. 

*  Mr.  Adams,  says  Ivimey,  took  offence  at  some  of  the  business  of  the 
previous  Assembly,  and  gave  a  different  statement  of  its  transactions  from  those 
given  by  Mark  Key,  the  assistant  minister,  and  John  Toms,  who  was  both  a 
minister  and  deacon. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OFFICERS  OF  BAPTIST  CHURCHES. 

r"T!HE  two  earliest  Confessions  show  that  both  sections  of  the 
J-  Baptists  in  the  Seventeenth  Century  virtually  recognised 
bnt  two  officers  in  connection  with  their  churches — ministers 
and  deacons.  The  words  of  Smyth's  Confession  on  this  subject 
are  :  "  Christ,  in  His  outward  church,  has  appointed  two  sorts 
of  servants,  namely,  some  who  are  called  pastors,  teachers, 
elders,  or  bishops,  who  administer  the  word  and  sacrament ; 
and  some  who  are  called  deacons,  men  and  women,  whose 
office  it  is  to  serve  tables,  and  to  wash  the  feet  of  the  saints." 
Acts  vi.  2-4  ;  Phil.  i.  1 ;  1  Tim.  iii.  2-8  (Article  ixxviii.)  The 
Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches  also  declares  :  "  That  Christ 
hath  given  the  church  powe'r,  for  their  well-being,  to  choose 
among  themselves  meet  persons  for  pastors,  teachers,  elders, 
and  deacons,  being  qualified  according  to  the  Word,  as  those 
which  Cbrist  hath  appointed  in  His  Testament,  for  the  feeding, 
governing,  serving,  and  building  up  of  His  church ;  and  that 
none  have  power  to  impose  on  them,  either  these,  or  any 
other."     (Article  xxxvi.) 

Elders,  or  Ministers, 
as  we  have  seen  from  the  last  chapter,  were  set  apart  to  their 
office  by  "  the  laying  on   of  hands  ;  "  and  in  many  churches 
two  ministers,  in  some    churches    even  four,  were  associated 
with  one  religious  society.     In  fact,  a  plurality  of  pastors,   or 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  219 

elders,  was  very  common  during  the  time  of  the  Stuarts,  both 
among  General  and  Particular  Baptists.  The  first  and  earlier 
section  of  the  Denomination  adopted  special  methods  for  dis- 
covering and  cultivating  ministerial  abilities.  During  the  Civil 
War,  they  had  stated  public  occasions  for  the  discussion  of 
religious  subjects,  in  which  any  one  was  at  liberty  to  propose 
or  to  defend  his  own  opinions.  But  these  meetings  were  after- 
wards succeeded  by  less  objectionable  modes  of  eliciting  the 
latent  talents  of  the  members  of  the  several  churches.  Regular 
meetings  for  prayer,  for  religious  conference,  and  for  expound- 
ing the  Scriptures  were  established  ;  one  great  object  of  them 
being,  to  ascertain  the  gifts  possessed  by  those  who  took 
part  in  them.  Thus,  the  General  Baptists  at  Spalding  agreed, 
"  that  they  would  meet  every  Wednesday  evening,  to  seek  the 
Lord  by  prayer  and  supplication  ;  and  that  the  brethren,  as 
many  of  them  as  can,  lay  out  themselves  in  such  a  manner  for 
the  Lord,  as  seems  most  to  answer  the  gifts  given  them  of  the 
Lord,  that  so  a  discovery  may  be  made  of  that  precious  trea- 
sure of  preaching  and  expounding  the  word,  which,  it  is  hoped, 
may  tend  to  the  glorifying  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  and  the 
edifying  of  one  another."  In  the  General  Baptist  church  at 
Shad  Thames,  the  younger  brethren  were  encouraged  to 
assemble  at  the  meeting-house  every  Lord's-day  morning,  "  to 
improve  their  spiritual  gifts  and  graces,  to  the  edifying  of  such 
as  should  give  attendance."  If  any  one  of  the  speakers  at 
these  meetings  gave  evidence  of  possessing  a  ready  gift  of 
speech,  and  a  fair  measure  of  ability,  his  name  was  reported  to 
the  church  meeting.  He  was  next  invited  to  preach  before 
the  brethren ;  and  if,  after  a  suitable  trial,  he  was  generally 
approved,  he  was  called  by  the  church  of  which  he  was  a 
member  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  At  first  he  was  employed 
occasionally,  during  which  stage  he  was  described  as  "  a  gifted 
brother."  €*     If  his  conduct  and  abilities  appeared  to  warrant, 

*  "  Gifted  brother. — It  is  his  duty  to  minister  or  exercise  his  gift  in  the 
church  whereof  he  is  a  member  (1  Cor.  xiv.  29,  30,  31 ;  1  Pet.  iv.  10 ;  and  1 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


he  was  next  called  to  the  regular  discharge  of  the  office  of 
pastor,  and  was  now  styled,  "  a  brother  confirmed  in  the 
ministry." 

Similar  meetings  were  held  in  Bristol  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Civil  War.  In  the  Broadmead  Eecords  we  are  told, 
that  "ye  church  mett  every  fifth  day  of  ye  week,  some- 
times at  one  place,  and  sometimes  at  another  of  ye  mem- 
bers' houses  ....  This  was  a  meeting  for  Conference, 
that  was  for  divers  or  any  of  the  brethren  to  speake  unto 
a  question  propounded  from  some  place  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture :  that  so  there  [was  liberty  for  any  brother  (and  for 
any  sister  by  a  brother),  to  propose  his  doubt  of,  or 
their  desire  of,  understanding  [any  portion  of  Scripture; 
and  ye  rest  of  ye  brethren  (especially  ye  officers  of  ye 
congregation),  one  by  one,  would  speak  to  ye  answering  of 
ye  question,  according  as  ye  Lord  did  hint  upon  their 
spirits,  and  then  be  silent,  and  another  speak,  and  soe  a 
third,  according  to  what  was  commanded  of  the  churches, 
1  Cor.  xiv.  30,  31,  33.  By  this  means  and  practice  that 
ye  fifth  day,  or  ye  weekly  meeting,  was  always  managed 
by  way  of  Conference,  these  seven  benefits  did  redound  to 
3re  glory  of  God,  and  ye  well-being  of  ye  church  : — First, 
by  this  meeting  for  any  brother  to  speak  to  any  Scrip- 
ture upon  his  heart,  or  to  any  question  that  was  proposed, 
that  was  judged  meet  by  ye  elders  for  ye  churches'  edification 
(those   were   rejected   if  any  tended   to  vain  jangling) ;  first, 

Tliess.  v.  11);  but  not  Lis  duty  to  preach  to  the  world,  nor  to  go  forth  to 
preach  before  he  hath  a  call  to  the  work,  nor  hath  not  power  to  baptize  (al- 
though he  hath  the  gift  to  preach),  until  he  be  seut  forth  to  preach  the  word. 
Then  he  bath,  by  virtue  of  that  mission,  power  to  baptize  also." — Broadmead 
Records  (Rev.  1ST.  Haycroft),  p.  203. 

The  same  custom  prevailed  among  the  General  Baptist  churches,  and 
"  gifted  men  "  who  had  taken  liberty,  without  the  consent  of  the  churches  or 
elders  to  whom  they  belonged,  "  to  go  to  and  fro  and  preach"  were  regarded 
as  acting  " contrary  to  all  good  order;"  and  one  General  Assembly  expressly 
declared,  "that  they  ought  to  be  suppressed,  being  of  a  dangerous  consequence." 
—MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  1698  and  1719. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


this  benefit  was  found,  that  many  dark  Scriptures  were 
opened.  Secondly:  Many  souls  had  their  doubts  resolved, 
especially  concerning  their  interest  in  Christ  and  their 
eternal  state,  when  they  heard  ye  doubts  and  experiences 
of  others  discovered.  Thirdly:  Many  cases  of  conscience 
were  answered,  what  to  doe,  or  not  to  doe,  that  in  their 
conversations  they  might  know  how  to  carry  it  to  their 
Heavenly  Father,  and  their  neighbour,  in  divers  cases,  to 
keep  a  conscience  void  of  offence  towards  God  and  man. 
Fourthly :  Light  in  ye  church  much  increased,  to  ye  clearing 
of  their  understandings  in  matters  of  faith  and  practice.  .  .  . 
Fifthly :  Many  souls  in  ye  church  were  confirmed  and 
established  that  it  was  the  grace  of  God  wherein  they 
stood.  .  .  .  Sixthly :  By  this  meeting  many  brethren  that 
seemed  to  have  no  gift  were  discovered  to  have  a  very 
spiritual  understanding,  and  a  good  utterance,  to  ye  mutual 
edification  of  ye  church,  so  that  those  gifts  and  graces 
that  lay  dormant  and  hidden  were  brought  forth.  .  .  . 
Seventhly  and  lastly  (though  more  might  be  named) — this 
benefit  followed,  that  those  gifts  that  were  discovered  were 
increased,  and  their  knowledge  much  enlarged,  and  some 
enabled  in  process  of  time  (being  trained  up  by  these  meetings 
of  Conference),  to  hold  forth  ye  word  of  life  publickly, 
if  there  were  occasion  of  necessity,  to  ye  building  up  of 
ye    church,    and   converting   of  several    souls."  * 

From  some  "  breviates  "  in  answer  to  a  case  presented  by  the 
church  at  Burnham,  Essex,  to  the  General  Assembly  of 
General  Baptists,  in  1704,  it  appears  that  the  churches 
had  to  be  reminded  of  their  recognised  duties  "  on  this 
subject," — calling  out  ministers.  "The  breviates"  are 
curious  enough  to  be  worth  reproducing,  especially  as  they 
still  further  illustrate  the  practice  of  the  General  Baptist 
churches.  "  1.  Every  brother  who  doth  conclude  that  he 
hath  a  gift  to  be  improved  for  the  benefit  of  the  church, 
*  Broadmead  Records.    (Edited  by  Rev.  N.  Haycroft.)    Pp.  28,  29. 


222  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

ought  to  be  permitted  to  express  the  same,  in  private 
meeting  for  approbation.  2.  Every  such  brother  ought  to  sub- 
mit to  the  judgment  of  the  church  to  improve  his  gift  as 
they  shall  think  meet.  3.  If  upon  such  a  brother  exercising 
his  gift,  for  some  time,  the  major  part  of  the  church  do 
approbate  the  same,  and  do  desire  him  by  his  gift  to  serve 
the  church,  we  think  that  he  is  then  lawfully  called  to  the 
work,  and  ought  to  do  it.  4.  But  if  the  major  part  do  not 
think  him  so  gifted  as  to  preach  in  a  publick  meeting,  that 
then  the  gifted  brother  and  the  minor  part  of  the  church 
are  to  be  contented  with  his  private  exercise  ;  until  the 
Lord  shall  please  to  endue  him  with  greater  ability  for 
the  public  ministry.  o.  But  if  the  brother  approved  by 
the  major  part  of  the  church  be  called  to  the  publick 
ministry,  the  minor  part  ought  not  to  discourage  such  a 
brother,  neither  by  words  nor  actions,  but  to  keep  their 
place  in  the  church,  and  quietly  sit  down  under  a  minister 
so  approved.  6.  That  such  persons  who  shall  wilfully 
absent  themselves  from  the  meeting,  when  some  brother 
so  approved  by  the  major  part  do  preach  to  the  grief  and 
discouragement  of  the  said  preaching  brother,  do  act  dis- 
orderly, and  are  worthy  of  reproof.  7.  We  look  upon  it 
to  be  the  duty  of  every  member  of  Christ's  Church  to  love 
and  encourage  every  gifted  brother,  and  to  pray  for  him,  with 
all  seriousness ;  which  may  be  the  means  to  prevail  with 
God  to  enlarge  their  gifts,  and  to  send  forth  more 
labourers."0 

The  anxiety  of  the  Particular  Baptist  Assembly  to  establish  a 
fund  for  the  support  of  men  who  showed  aptness  to  learn,  has 
already  been  noticed.  But  it  has  too  commonly  been  supposed 
that  the  General  Baptists  were  unfriendly  to  an  educated 
ministry.  There  are  abundant  proofs  to  the  contrary.  "  It  is 
nowhere  said,"  observes  Joseph  Hooke,  an  elder  among  them 
in  the  last  days  of  Charles  the  Second,   "  in  the  Word  of  God, 

*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  Asse-mbh/.    Vol.  I.  p.  2o. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  223 

1  Let  a  bishop  be  an  academic,  a  rhetorician,  a  logician,  a 
graduate  ;'  but  it  is  said,  '  A  bishop  must  be  blameless,  as  the 
steward  of  God,  vigilant,  sober,  of  good  behaviour,  given  to 
hospitality,  apt  to  teach,  &c.'  And  when  we  find  men  thus 
qualified  according  to  the  mind  of  God,  we  choose  them  to  the 
ministry,  whether  they  have  or  not  been  bred  at  the  Univer- 
sity. .  .  .  Let  none  mistake  me,  as  though  I  should  despise 
human  learning,  as  some  have  done  in  a  passionate  zeal, 
because  of  its  abuses,  and  others  through  sottish  ignorance, 
being  themselves  strangers  to  it.  No.  I  love  and  honour 
human  learning,  and  give  it  my  approbation  ;  only,  I  would  not 
have  more  ascribed  to  it  than  is  due ;  nor,  by  any  means,  that  it 
should  be  preferred  above  Divine  learning,  but  only  attended 
upon  as  a  servant."0  The  Somerset  Confession  also  says  in  its 
twenty-third  article :  "  We  readily  grant  that  the  learning  of 
the  languages,  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  &c,  may  be  useful  in  its 
place,  as  a  servant  to  help  ;  but  to  make  it  a  qualification  abso- 
lutely necessary  to  the  being  a  minister,  we  dare  not."  The 
article  then  adduces  several  reasons  for  this  statement ;  for 
example  :  the  lack  of  learning  in  the  Apostles  (although  they 
seem  to  have  overlooked  the  significant  fact  that  the  Apostles 
had  given  them,  by  supernatural  power,  what  men  now  acquire 
by  painful  study) ;  the  absence  of  this  among  the  qualifications 
for  elders  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament ;  the  usefulness  in 
the  church  of  "  men  unlearned  in  the  languages ;"  and  the  mis- 
use which  learned  men  have  often  made  of  their  acquirements. 

There  was  quite  as  much  order  observed  by  the  General 
Baptists  in  setting  apart  their  elders  or  bishops  as  the  Bristol 
General  Assembly  of  Particular  Baptist  churches  desired  in 
1693.  "  None  are  ordained  among  us,"  to  quote  again  from 
Joseph  Hooke,  "before  they  be  chosen  by  the  free  consent  of 
the  whole  church  ;  or  at,  least,  of  the  major  part.  And  good 
cause  it  is,  where  all  are  equally  concerned,  that  they  should 
be  equally  satisfied  in  the  choice  of  such  to  whom  they  commit 
*  Hooke's  Necessary  Apology,  pp.  58-62. 


224  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

their  souls."  The  elder  was  not  permitted  to  exercise  the 
duties  of  his  office  until  he  had  been  regularly  set  apart  by- 
fasting  and  prayer,  with  the  imposition  of  hands.  The  ordina- 
tion was  often  a  season  of  great  solemnity.  The  whole  con- 
gregation were  called  to  unite  in  the  duties  and  the  devotions 
of  the  day  ;  and  the  neighbouring  elders,  and  also  the  mes- 
sengers were  invited  to  take  a  part  in  it.  Nor  was  it  unusual 
for  sister  congregations  to  hold  a  solemn  Assembly  at  the  same 
time,  to  wrestle  with  God  in  praj^er,  that  He  would  crown  the 
union  with  His  blessing. 

Moreover,  when  the  union  between  elder  and  people  had 
once  been  formed,  it  was  deemed  sacred.  Seldom  do  we  read 
of  the  pastors  of  the  early  Baptist  churches  removing  from  one 
place  to  another.  Some  regard  the  tie  as  indissoluble  as  mar- 
riage, and  only  to  be  severed  by  death,  or  by  the  apostacy  of 
the  elder.  In  the  Lincolnshire  General  Baptist  Association  in 
1696,  it  was  resolved  :  "  That  there  is  nothing  which  we  can 
justly  fix  upon  that  can  warrant  an  elder  to  forsake  his  people : 
nor  can  any  elder,  who  has  gone  away  from  his  own  people, 
be  established  as  an  elder  over  another  people  in  another 
place."  The  same  Association  also  declared,  that  "  an  elder, 
for  a  sinful  life,  for  false  teaching,  might  be  put  from  his 
office  ;  "  and  that  though,  "  after  his  fall  he  should  prove  a 
sound  and  good  man,  he  may  be  taken  into  the  church  as  a 
member,  but  must  not  act  in  another  place,"  nor  yet  there 
again,  "  in  the  capacity  of  an  elder."  The  General  Assembly 
of  General  Baptists  in  1716  passed  a  resolution  which  still 
further  illustrates  their  strictness  in  dealing  with  erring  minis- 
ters :  "  It  is  agreed  by  this  Assembly,  that  a  person  ordained 
to  the  office  of  an  elder,  and  being  afterwards  dismissed  from 
the  church  where  he  was  so,  and  shall  take  upon  him  to  act  as 
an  elder  in  any  one  or  more  churches,  is  disorder;  but  to  do 
this  without  taking  a  membership  in  the  church  where  he  so 
acts,  is  a  very  great  disorder."0 

*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  Vol  I.  p.  55. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  225 


It  was  also  deemed  a  disqualification  for  eldership  if  the  wife 
of  the  person  proposed  to  be  elected  to  that  office  were  not  a 
member  of  the  church.* 

On  the  subject  of  the  maintenance  of  their  ministers,  both 
sections  of  the  denomination  did  not  originally  agree,  although 
many  ministers  in  each  served  their  churches  gratuitously.  In 
the  former  part  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  most  of  the  General 
Baptist  ministers  carried  on  some  business,  by  which  they  sup- 
ported themselves  and  their  families.  From  their  earliest 
records,  it  does  not  appear  that  they  received  anything  from 
their  congregations,  except  travelling  expenses,  and  these  often 
on  the  narrowest  scale.  In  1656  messengers  were  sent  by  the 
"  friends  at  Stamford,"  "  to  stir  up  "  different  districts, — 
"  William  Juge  and  Thomas  Cristian,  for  Leicester,  and  to  stir 
up  Earl  Shilton  and  Mount  Sorrill ;  John  Kirby  for  Notting- 
ham, and  to  stir  up  "Wingford  and  Kimson ;  Isaac  Spence  and 
Christopher  Bell  for  Peterborough,  and  to  stir  up  Wisbeach  and 
Fenystanton ;  Benjamin  Morley  and  Francis  Stanley  for  Ravens- 
thorpe,  and  to  stir  up  Newton,  and  as  many  as  they  can  ; 
George  More  for  Whitwell  and  Markfield,  and  to  stir  up 
Twyford  ;  John  Wilkinson  to  stir  up  Langtoft,  Thurlby,  and 
Bitome  :  " — and  it  was  decreed  that  the  churches  should  defray 
the  charges  of  their  families,  and  "  that  our  beloved  brethren 
shall  have  ten  shillings  a  week  for  themselves  and  their  families." 
This  was  to  cover  their  own  travelling  expenses,  and  the  cost 
of  their  families'  maintenance  during  their  absence. 

When,  however,  the  increase  of  the  church,  or  other  circum- 
stances, rendered  it  absolutely  necessary  that  the  elder  should  be 
supported,  in  whole,  or  in  part,  it  was  in  many  places  yielded  to 
reluctantly.  So  late  as  1679  it  was  considered  at  Berkhampstead 
an  opinion  worthy  of  special  censure  for  any  member  to  affirm. 
"  that  men  ought  to  have  a  set  maintenance,  by  the  year,  for 
preaching."  Francis  Stanley,  who  long  laboured  among  the 
General  Baptists,  "  without  being  chargeable  to  any,"  tells 
*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  Vol  ii.  p.  55. 
Q 


225  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

us,  on  his  own  knowledge,  "that  some  ministers  had 
spent  the  great  part  of  their  outward  substance  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  churches  ;  some  their  all ;  and  some  more  than  their 
all,  many  being  reduced  to  the  affecting  strait,  either  to  neglect 
the  worthy  work  of  the  Gospel,  or  else  to  be  reputed  worse 
than  infidels  (1  Tim.  v.  8)."  The  earnest  expostulations  which 
the  zealous  and  self-denying  Stanley  addressed  to  the  churches 
on  this  subject  drew  out  this  gentle  admonition  from  Thomas 
Grantham  :  "  Let  the  baptized  churches  be  exhorted  to  con- 
sider that,  whilst  others  have  exceeded,  they  have  been  too 
short,  in  caring  for  their  ministers,  who,  though  they  have 
generally  with  great  cheerfulness  served  them  in  the  Gospel  of 
God  freely,  yet  that  will  not  justify  the  churches'  neglect  of  their 
duty.  And  besides,  the  ministry  are  rendered,  by  this  neglect, 
less  capable  to  serve  them,  being  generally  much  diverted  by 
worldly  employments  from  that  serious  study  and  exercise  of 
reading  which  ordinarily  conduces  much  to  the  furtherance  of 
the  Gospel,  in  the  more  ample  preaching  thereof."  Grantham's 
account  of  "  the  portion,"  as  he  calls  it,  "  to  be  communicate,*' 
is  thus  stated  :  "It  ought  to  be  such  as  (in  strictness  of  equity) 
may  keep  the  minister  indemnified  in  his  domestic  concerns ; 
else  he  goeth  a  warfare  at  his  own  charge  :  but  of  that  he  ought 
to  be  disburthened,  save  only  in  a  case  of  common  calamity, 
and  these  the  minister,  as  well  as  the  soldier,  must  suffer  with 
the  rest ;  yea,  then  it  will  become  him  to  lead  the  way,  and 
teaching  the  church  to  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  his  goods, 
by  his  heroic  and  cheerful  example."  Grantham's  life  shows 
us  a  striking  example  of  his  own  words.  He  quotes  with 
evident  gusto,  in  his  chapter  on  "  the  low  outward  condition 
of  the  ancient  bishops  of  the  Church,  an  apology  for  the 
present  bishops  or  elders  in  the  baptized  Churches,"  the  con- 
duct of  Chrysostom  who  "  whilst  he  was  more  strong  in  the 
body,  used  to  travel  on  foot  to  visit  his  flock.  But  what  would 
the  people  have  said,  had  his  servant  gone  bare  before  him  ? 
or  if  the  Emperor  had  held  his   stirrup,  or  led  his  horse  !  or 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  227 

else,  if  lie  had  rid  in  his  coach  with  six  horses,  with  a  train  to 
attend  him  like  a  prince  ?"  "  Even  the  British  bishops  at  the 
Council  at  Ariminum,"  says  Grantham,  "were  kept  at  the 
Emperor's  charge,  and  their  revenue  at  home  was  very  mode- 
rate, being  supplied  by  the  milk  of  three  cows  for  a  bishop ; 
and  when  any  of  them  became  dry,  the  people  took  that,  and 
supplied  them  with  another.  I  mention  not  these  things,  as 
if  the  Lord's  servants  in  'the  ministry  may  not  use  convenient 
things  of  this  life ;  for  doubtless  '  the  workman  is  worthy  of 
his  meat,'  and  God  that  '  provides  for  the  ox  that  treadeth  out 
the  corn,'  hath  provided  in  that  rational  law  for  His  ministers. 
But  this  I  will  say,  that  it  is  hard  for  a  bishop  to  be  very  rich 
and  very  good,  otherwise  our  Saviour  would  have  chosen 
such." 

The  General  Baptists,  therefore,  did  at  last,  and  after  some 
years,  imitate  their  brethren  "who  owned  personal  election 
and  final  perseverance."  The  thirty-ninth  article  of  the 
Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches  declares  "  that  the  ministers 
ought  to  have  whatsoever  they  shall  need,  supplied  freely  by 
the  Church,  that,  according  to  Christ's  ordinance,  they  that 
preach  the  Gospel  shall  live  of  the  Gospel,  by  the  law  of 
Christ."  The  Somerset  Confession  speaks  out  more  emphatically 
on  the  subject : — "  A  minister  labouring  in  the  word  and 
doctrine,  has  power  to  receive  a  livelihood  from  their  brethren, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  provide  a  comfortable  subsistence  for  them, 
if  they  be  able,  to  whom,  for  Christ's  sake,  they  are  servants. 
.  .  .  Yet  it  is  commendable  in  cases  of  necessity  for  them,  for 
example's  sake,  and  that  they  may  be  able  to  support  the  weak, 
to  labour  and  work  with  their  own  hands  "  (Article  xxii.).  The 
endorsement,  by  the  first  General  Assembly  of  the  Calvinistic 
Baptist  churches  of  Benjamin  Keach's  book  on  Ministerial 
Maintenance,  shows  that  the  General  Baptists  were  not  alone 
in  needing  education  on  this  question.  Keach  indeed  affirms 
in  his  pamphlet  that  there  were  some  churches  "  that  did 
unanimously  conclude  and  declare,  that  for  a  Gospel  minister 

Q2 


228  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

to  have  a  yearly  allowance,  or  a  competent  maintenance,  was 
a  human  invention,  and  anti- Christian." 

The  Confession  of  the  first  Particular  Baptist  General 
Assembly  does,  however,  very  precisely  mark  out  the  duties 
of  the  churches  in  relation  to  their  ministers  : — "  The  work  of 
the  pastors  being  constantly  to  attend  the  service  of  Christ  in 
His  churches,  in  the  ministry  of  the  Word  and  prayer,  with 
watching  for  their  souls,  as  they  must  give  an  account  to  Him, 
it  is  incumbent  on  the  churches,  not  only  to  give  them  all  due 
respect,  hut  also  to  communicate  unto  them  in  all  good  things, 
according  to  their  ability,  so  as  they  mag  have  a  comfortable 
supply,  without  being  themselves  entangled  in  worldly  affairs ; 
and  may  also  be  capable  of  exercising  hospitality  towards 
others ;  and  this  is  required  by  the  law  of  nature,  and  by  the 
express  order  of  our  Lord  Jesus,  who  hath  ordained,  that  they 
that  preach  the  Gospel  shall  live  of  the  Gospel." :;: 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  in  1704,  was 
compelled  to  look  at  the  question  of  "  ministers'  maintenance  " 
in  a  practical  manner.  The  churches  in  Kent  sent  to  the 
Assembly  to  say,  that  "  they  were  in  a  sinking  and  languishing 
condition;"  and  one  reason  assigned  was,  "the  want  of 
making  provision  for  a  Gospel  ministry,  as  the  Scriptures 
enjoined,  and  was  practised  in  the  primitive  state  of  the 
church."  The  Assembly,  therefore,  advised:  (1)  "  That  able 
and  gifted  persons  be  chosen  and  appointed  to  inform  the 
churches  in  general  of  the  duty,  according  to  the  Scriptures, 
to  make  provision  for  a  Gospel  ministry,  and  that  the  ministers 
be  strictly  enjoined  in  their  respective  churches  to  be  diligent 
in  this  work.  (2)  That  every  congregation  choose  and  appoint 
a  person,  or  persons,  to  collect  or  gather  at  his,  her,  or  their 
discretion,  such  moneys  as  shall  be  given  for  the  use  aforesaid, 

*  A  singular  question  was  proposed  to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  General 
Baptists  in  1G97  :  "  "Whether  it  was  lawful  for  an  elder  or  messenger  to  rent 
a  parsonage,  and  receive  tithes?"  The  Assembly  agreed,  "That  in  some 
cas  18  it  might  be  lawful;  but  that  in  all  cases  it  was  very  inconvenient."' — 
MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assernblg,  Vol.  i.  p.  13. 


BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  229 

once  a  month,  or  as  often  as  convenient.  (3)  That  all  such 
moneys  so  collected  shall  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  a 
treasurer,  or  treasurers,  as  are  chosen  by  an  Association,  or 
other  churches  distinct,  according  as  they  think  convenient ; 
and  that  such  treasurer  or  treasurers,  by  and  with  the  consent 
and  direction  of  the  aforesaid  Association,  or  churches  distinct, 
shall  apply  or  dispose  of  the  said  moneys  for  encouraging  and 
supporting  a  Gospel  ministry,  as  aforesaid,  and  to  no  other  uses 
whatsoever ;  and  that  the  said  collections  shall  not  hinder  or 
prevent  raising  a  stock  to  be  brought  to  the  General  Assembly, 
for  the  messengers,  or  travelling  ministers."" 

The  Records  of  the  Broadmead  Church  contain  several  in- 
stances of  the  liberal  disposition  of  its  members  towards  one  of 
their  ministers.  In  view  of  Mr.  Hardcastle's  settlement  among 
them,  1671,  each  member  was  sent,  "  one  by  one,  into  a 
separate  room  where  an  elder  and  brother  were,"  to  state  in 
writing  what  they  would  freely  offer  and  promise.  "  Of  those 
who  subscribed  to  the  pastor's  maintenance,"  say  the  Records, 
"  there  was  to  be  observed  the  grace  of  God  in  some.  One 
aged  brother  named  Henry  Pierce,  a  very  mean  and  poor  man 
to  appearance  in  person  and  habit,  and  by  profession  or  trade 
but  a  journeyman  shoemaker,  that  lived  up  in  a  cockloft;  yet 
his  heart  was  so  enlarged  for  and  by  the  Lord,  that  he  would 
subscribe  and  did  pay,  not  less  that  twenty  shillings  per  an- 
num." Another  case  is  that  of  Margaret  Webb,  "  that  had  two 
children  to  maintain,  that  lived  very  meane,  that  took  great 
care  to  carry  the  world  about  to  live  therein  honestly  towards 
all,  and  laboured  very  hard  so  to  do."  She  also  "  subscribed 
and  did  pay  forty  shilling  per  year."  The  Records  add,  after 
giving  those  facts — "  which  examples  did  provoke,  if  not  shame, 
many  others."! 

*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  Vol.  i.  p.  27. 

f  Broadmead  Records  (Eev.  N.  Haycroft),  p.  79.  Making  allov/ance  for  tlie 
difference  in  the  value  of  money,  the  shoemaker  gave  at  least  £3,  and 
Margaret  Webb  £6  per  annum. 


230  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

In  addition  to  the  ciders,  or  ministers,  there  were 

Messengers,  or  Apostles. 

These  men  were  not,  in  any  single  respect,  like  the  "  mes- 
sengers "  of  our  own  day  ;  that  is,  merely  delegates  appointed 
by  individual  churches  to  represent  them  at  their  yearly  County 
Associations.  The  men  who  were  styled  messengers  by  the 
early  English  Baptists,  were  entrusted  with  grave  and  respon- 
sible duties.  At  first  they  were  chiefly  employed  as  itinerant 
preachers,  having  already  served  in  the  office  of  elder.  The 
nation,  in  the  time  of  Charles  the  First,  needed  everywhere 
evangelising.  The  settled  pastors  could  not  undertake  this 
work  without  neglecting  the  claims  of  their  several  churches  ; 
and  it  was  deemed,  by  both  sections  of  the  Baptists,  irregular 
for  others  to  do  it  who  were  not  specially  appointed.  Hence 
arose  the  office  of  "  Messengers,"  or  as  Grantham  calls  them, 
"Apostles."  "Though  it  is  most  certain,"  he  says,  "that 
there  are  several  things  proper  and  peculiar  to  the  first  and 
chief  Apostles,  not  to  be  pretended  at  all  by  their  successors, 
the  subordinate  messengers,  yet  it  is  also  true  that  many  things 
pertaining  to  their  office  as  itinerate  ministers,  are  of  perpetual 
duration  in  the  Church  with  respect  to  that  holy  function,  and 
consequently  to  descend  to  those  who  succeeded  them  as  travelling 
ministers,  to  plant  churches,  and  to  settle  those  in  order  who  are 
as  sheep  without  a  shepherd."  Grantham  devotes  a  long  chapter 
to  "  the  defence  of  the  subordinate  Apostles  of  Christ,  or 
messengers  of  His  Churches  ; "  and  in  this  he  says  he  will  not 
scruple  "to  call  old  things  by  their  old  names."  "For  men 
to  strain  more  at  the  word  apostle  (as  some  do  at  the  word 
bishop)  than  at  the  work  or  office  signified  thereby,  is  no  other 
thing  (as  I  conceive),  than  groundless  humility,  or  hypercritical 
subtilty,  seeing  it  is  evident  that  these  titles  are  as  lowly  as  any 
that  can  be  given  to  suit  with  the  matter  thereby  intended  ; 
apostle,  signifying  a  messenger,  or  sent,  and  bishop,  importing  an 
overseer." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  231 


He  carefully  shows  in  what  respects  there  are  now  no 
Apostles:  none,  that  is,  like  "the  Twelve" — who  were  sent 
"  in  their  immediate  mission,  which  was  so  much  like  the  mis- 
sion of  our  great  Apostle,  Christ  Himself;  learned  their  doc- 
trine from  the  lips  of  Christ,  or  received  it  by  infallible 
revelations  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  were  not  taught  by  man ; 
laid  an  infallible  foundation,  and  delivered  rules  for  govern- 
ment, which  all  other  teachers  were  to  build  upon  and  observe 
as  their  pattern  and  standard ;  and  were  necessarily  endowed 
with  gifts  of  tongues,  miracles,  signs,  and  mighty  deeds."  But, 
notwithstanding  this,  "  God  hath  given  to  His  Church  a 
ministry  of  Messengers,  or  Apostles  (though  much  inferior), 
yet  truly  to  succeed  the  first  Apostles  in  such  things  as  are 
ordinary  and  fixed  to  that  office  ;  namely,  (1)  in  respect  of 
lawful  power  and  authority  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  all  places, 
at  all  times,  to  all  persons,  as  occasion  and  opportunity  by 
God's  providence  shall  be  given  them ;  (2)  unwearied  dili- 
gence in  teaching  and  strengthening  both  pastors  and  churches 
(chiefly  those  which  are  but  newly  settled  in  the  faith)  in  all 
the  counsel  of  God ;  and  by  labouring  to  perfect  that  which  is 
lacking  concerning  the  faith  of  any  churches ;  (3)  in  being 
set  for  a  defence  of  the  Gospel,  or  doctrine  once  delivered, 
against  all  false  Apostles,  or  such  as  would  introduce  false 
doctrines ;  and  also  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  particular 
pastors  against  usurpers,  or  such  as  despise  the  ministers  of 
Christ."  He  next  proceeds  to  show  at  large  that  the  "  Apostles 
have  such  to  succeed  them  in  their  Apostleship  in  these  and 
the  like  services  :  "  (1)  from  the  perpetuity  of  every  part  of 
Christ's  commission ;  (2)  from  the  duration  of  those  spiritual 
gifts  which  Christ  obtained  and  gave  to  His  Church  by  virtue  of 
His  ascension  ;  (3)  from  the  order  and  state  of  the  primitive 
churches,  their  having  such  Apostles  or  Messengers,  and  the 
non-abrogation  thereof,  by  good  authority  to  this  day;  (4) 
from  the  practice  of  those  who  most  question  the  being  of  a 
ministry  of  messengers  or  Apostles  in  the  churches  at  this  day  ; 


232  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

and  (o)  from  the  state  of  the  world,  their  necessity,  to  be 
taught  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  and  the  danger  they  lie  under 
by  means  of  false  Apostles.  Epaphroditus,  Barnabas,  Luke, 
Mark,  Silas,  Tichicus,  Trophimus,  and  Apollos,  the  General 
Baptist  Apologist  contends,  were  all  of  them  "  this  sort  of 
minister."  He  best  sums  up  his  whole  exposition  in  regard 
to  these  particular  officers  by  saying,  "  That  as  God  hath  given 
to  His  Church  a  fixed  ministry  of  bishops,  elders,  pastors,  &c, 
to  take  care  of  particular  churches,  so  He  hath  given  her  a 
travelling  ministry,  fixed,  in  respect  of  particular  societies,  to 
ivhom  it  pertains,  by  virtue  of  their  office,  to  take  all  occasions  to 
cause  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  to  shine  unto  such  as  sit  in 
darkness,  to  plant  churches,  to  confirm  or  settle  them  in  the  faith, 
to  visit  and  comfort  those  who  have  believed  through  grace." 

Not  only  were  messengers,  or  Apostles,  sent  out  by  the 
General  Baptists  to  different  parts  of  England ;  but  there  are 
instances  of  messengers  being  dispatched  to  preach  the  Gospel 
in  Ireland,  and  even  in  Virginia,  and  South  Carolina.  A  Mr. 
Haywood  was  "  ordained  by  the  General  Assembly"  to  the 
last-mentioned  place  in  1739. *  The  minutes  of  the  Assembly 
abound  with  applications,  on  the  part  of  individual  churches 
to  the  Assembly  for  the  appointment  of  messengers,  and  with 
suggestions  to  the  churches  by  the  Assembly,  that  they  should 
"  look  out  suitable  men  among  them  "  to  be  nominated  to  that 
office. 

Although  the  Particular  Baptists,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able 
to  ascertain,  never  adopted  the  title  of  Apostle ;  yet  they  had, 
in  the  days  of  the  Civil  War,  and  long  afterwards,  persons  set 
apart  to  the  work  of  itinerant  preaching,  and  the  general  super- 
intendeDcy  of  particular  districts  and  churches.  Thomas 
Collier,  as  we  have  seen,  occupied  some  such  office  in  the  West 
of  England ;  but  the  number  of  men  who  were  called  to  these 
duties  among  the  General  Baptists  was  much  larger  than 
among  the  churches  "  owing  personal  election  and  final  perse- 
'   MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  Vol.  ii.  p.  b'2. 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  233 


verance."  Less  than  a  hundred  years  ago  a  General  Baptist 
Association  at  Coningsby  gave  this  definition  of  the  special 
duties  of  the  office  : — "  The  messenger  who  is  chosen  by  the 
unanimous  consent  and  approbation  of  the  churches,  and  which 
stand  in  close  connection  together,  hath  full  power  and  autho- 
rity, according  to  the  Gospel,  to  freely  enquire  into  the  state  of 
the  churches  respecting  both  the  pastors  and  the  people  ;  to  see 
that  the  pastors  do  their  duty  in  their  places,  and  the  people 
theirs.  He  is  to  exhort,  admonish,  and  reprove,  both  the  one 
and  the  other,  as  occasion  calls  for.  In  virtue  of  his  office,  he 
is  to  watch  over  the  several  flocks  committed  to  his  charge  ;  to 
see  that  good  order  and  government  be  carefully  and  constantly 
kept  up  and  maintained  in  the  churches,  he  is  called  and  ap- 
pointed to  look  after  and  watch  over  ;  to  labour  to  keep  out  the 
innovations  in  doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline,  and  to  stand 
up  in  the  defence  of  the  Gospel." 

It  is  true  that  the  churches  in  any  given  district"'  did  them- 
selves select  their  own  messenger  (with  the  consent  of  the 
Local  Association  or  General  Assembly,  from  whom  he  was 
sent),  and  that  he  was  solemnly  set  apart  for  his  office  with 
prayer  and  fasting ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  see,  notwithstanding 
all  that  Grantham  says  in  its  favour,  how  the  independency  of 
the  several  churches  could  be  preserved  under  such  an  office. 
It  was  an  episcopacy,  a  presbytery,  and  an  inquisition,  all  in 
one.  The  irksomeness  of  a  rule  like  this  to  congregational 
churches  was  a  sure  presage  of  its  extinction.  Whatever 
advantage  there  might  be  in  it  at  the  time  that  the  churches 
were  feeble,  widely  scattered,  and  but  ill  supplied  with  stated 
ministers,  the  very  growth  of  the  churches  themselves,  and  the 
gradual  increase  in  the  quality  of  the  ministrations  to  which 
they  listened,  would,  apart  from  the  inquisitorial  and  offensive 


*  The  General  Assembly  in  1756  declared,  "that  the  messenger's  office 
extends  itself  equally  over  all  the  baptized  churches  who  request  their  assis- 
tance."— MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  Vol.  ii. 


234  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


character  of    such    a   supervision,    ultimately   supersede    any 
necessity  for  its  existence. 

Deacons;  Helps  in  government. 

In  the  citation  already  given  from  Smyth's  Confession,  we 
have  learnt,  that  "  the  second  sort  of  servant  in  Christ's  out- 
ward church  are  called  deacons,  men  and  women  whose  office 
it  is  to  serve  tables,  and  wash  the  feet  of  the  saints."  Gran- 
tham is  more  explicit  in  describing  their  "  office."  "  The 
deacon's  office,"  he  tells  us,  "is  a  sacred  ministry,  and  a  holy 
trust  or  calling  in  the  Church  of  Christ,  being  also  com- 
prehended in  the  apostolical  office,  and  by  them  exercised  till 
the  opportunity  of  preaching  and  prayer  was  so  great,  that  they 
could  not  attend  the  service  at  table  (Acts  vi.)  Whereupon 
seven  men  were  chosen  by  the  Church  to  wait  upon  the 
deacon's  office,  and  solemnly  ordained  to  that  employment  by 
the  imposition  of  hands.  Hence  we  gather  the  Divine  insti- 
tution of  the  office  itself.  For  the  Apostles  had  no  power  to 
make  civil  officers,  or  to  appoint  men  to  any  trust  in  the  magis- 
tracy ;  but  they  acted  here  as  ministers  of  Christ,  and  there- 
fore their  ordination,  being  an  act  of  power,  must  needs  be  of 
Divine  authority.  And  the  same  appears  from  those  Divine 
rules  left  us  by  the  Apostle  touching  their  qualification  to  this 
sacred  office,  being  for  the  most  part  the  same  which  is  given 
in  the  case  of  the  election  of  bishops  (1  Tim.  iii.). 

"  Though  their  office  do  more  precisely  engage  them  to  take 
care  of  the  necessities  of  the  poor  in  the  Christian  churches,  in 
a  faithful  distribution  of  the  alni3  of  the  faithful  people,  &c, 
yet  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  but  they  were  greatly  concerned  in 
all  the  matters  of  religion,  as  helps  to  Government.  Yea,  these 
are  the  most  likely  to  be  intended  by  these  expressions,  espe- 
cially the  first,  to  wit,  helps ;  for  even  therefore  were  they 
chosen  to  assist  the  Apostles  in  the  work  of  the  ministry.  And 
sith  they  are  not  only  to  be  men  of  honest  report,  but  also  full 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  it  may  inform  us  that  they  were  to  be  con- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  235 


cernecl  in  the  mystery  of  the  faith  ;  as  it  is  also  said,  1  Tim.  iii., 
'  He  that  hath  used  the  office  of  a  deacon  well,  hath  purchased 
to  himself  a  good  degree,  and  great  boldness  in  the  faith;'  which 
implies  a  liberty,  or  great  freedom  to  preach  the  faith,  or 
mystery  of  the  Gospel. 

"  The  ancients,  and  particularly  Tertullian,  in  his  book  Of 
Baptism,  informs  us  that  'the  deacons  had  authority  to  bap- 
tize ;  '  yet,  saith  he,  'it  was  by  the  appointment  of  the 
bishop.'  But  this  was  only  for  preventing  inconveniences  ;  for 
unless  God  allowed  him  to  do  this,  the  bishop  could  not 
impower  him.  It  is  true,  the  Holy  Scripture  doth  but  hint  at 
these  things,  and  therefore  we  shall  not  be  peremptory  ;  only 
considering,  that  a  liberty  in  ministering  the  Word  in  the 
churches  is  allowed  persons  upon  the  account  of  God's  gifts 
received,  though  not  ordained  to  any  office,  it  must  needs  be 
rather  greater  on  the  deacons' part  who  are  chosen  and  ordained 
to  serve  the  churches  of  Christ  in  things  pertaining  to  the 
ministry. 

"  In  this  office  we  see  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of  God  to 
the  poor  of  His  flock,  in  providing  a  distinct  office  in  His 
Church  for  their  sake  especially.  And,  therefore,  let  His 
Church  take  heed  they  despise  them  not,  but  know  that  God 
hath  chosen  the  poor  of  this  world.  And  let  His  people  cheer- 
fully communicate  to  their  necessities,  that  God  may  bless 
them,  and  cause  all  His  grace  to  abound  towards  them " 
(2  Cor.  ix.  6,  7,  8).  For  'such  as  sow  sparingly'  must 
expect  '  to  reap  sparingly.'  Yea,  to  do  good,  and  to  commu- 
nicate according  to  the  will  of  God,  is  to  sow  to  the  Spirit; 
and  the  way,  not  only  to  reap  blessings  here,  but  in  the  end  to 
obtain  eternal  life  (Luke  xiv.  14).  'And  thou  shalt  be  blessed; 
for  they  (the  poor)  cannot  recompense  thee ;  for  thou  shalt  be 
recompensed  at  the  resurrection  of  the  just.'  And  let  the 
deacons  bless  God  for  that  He  hath  counted  them  worthy  to  be 
put  into  this  ministry ;  for  they  do  not  so  much  wait  upon  the 
poor  as  on  the  Lord  ;  they  shall  shortly  find  that  Christ  will 


236  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


account  their  visits  to  His  poor  as  His  own  visits.  Let  them 
also  mark  the  temper  of  those  whom  they  visit,  and  put  them 
in  mind  of  that  thankfulness  which  they  owe  to  God,  who  hath 
so  graciously  provided  for  them  ;  and  let  the  poor  requite  their 
brethren  with  their  prayers  to  God.  They  may  show  both  a 
grateful  mind,  and  prevail  with  Him  for  a  blessing,  who  '  both 
giveth  seed  to  the  sower,  and  bread  to  the  eater,'  and  blessed 
the  seed  sown.  Let  them  beware  of  a  covetous  and  murmuring 
spirit,  lest  the  Lord  see  it,  and  it  displease  Him,  and  He  reject 
them,  as  unworthy  of  His  provision. 

"  It  is  here  also  to  be  observed,  that  we  hear  not  a  word  of 
archdeacons  and  subdeacons,  nor  find  any  such  creatures  in  the 
primitive  churches.  Men  have  found  out  this  device  to  the 
great  abuse  of  God's  ordinance,  to  the  neglecting  the  poor ; 
yea,  rather,  to  the  grinding  of  their  faces,  than  the  relieving  of 
them,  according  to  the  meaning  of  this  sacred  institution.  In 
the  meantime,  those  archdeacons  live  in  great  state,  as  even 
not  knowing  what  belongs  to  the  simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  or 
the  nature  of  this  self-abusing  office,  being  rather  such  as  are 
ministered  unto,  than  devoting  themselves  to  minister  to  others. 
Whilst  the  civil  magistrate  is  constrained  to  take  care  of  the 
poor,  and  to  appoint  overseers  for  them,  as  if  this  were  a  work 
too  low  for  a  minister  of  Christ.  But  blessed  Paul  was  of 
another  mind  (Gal.  ii.  10),  '  Only  they  would  that  we  should 
remember  the  poor,  the  same  which  I  also  was  forward  to 
do.'  " 

Grantham  claims  for  "  the  baptized  churches  "  "  the  only 
true  ordination  "  both  of  bishops  and  deacons  ;  since  "  they 
only  have  true  baptism;"  "they  only  have  due  election  of 
officers;  "  they  only  "the  true  form,  or  order,  of  ordination." 
The  right  of  the  people  to  elect  their  officers,  he  says,  has  been 
invaded  "  by  great  personages  and  magistrates,"  and  by  "  the 
rich  and  strong."  But  "  now  this  privilege  is  restored  and 
maintained  in  the  baptized  churches,  where  none  are  elected 
messengers,  bishops,  or  deacons  without  the  free  choice  of  the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  237 

brotherhood  where  such  elections  are  made.  And  after  such 
election  of  persons  of  known  integrity  and  competent  ability, 
we  proceed  to  ordination,  with  fasting  and  prayer,  and  the 
laying  on  of  hands,  ...  all  which  apostolical  practices  are  reli- 
giously observed  in  the  baptized  churches,  without  any  devised 
adjuncts  or  ceremonies  of  our  own,  or  others." 

It  will  be  observed,  that  the  main  duty  of  the  deacons, 
according  to  Grantham,  was  the  care  of  the  poor.  He  speaks 
in  a  parenthesis  of  the  deacons  being  "helps  in  government ;" 
but  other  General  Baptists  more  carefully  define  the  duties  of 
the  "helps,"  in  their  relation  to  the  elders.  They  were  en- 
trusted with  the  spiritual  as  well  as  the  temporal  care  of  a 
certain  number  of  members  of  the  church.  A  minute  in  the 
Biddenden  church-book,  of  1678,  thus  describes  their  work: 
"to  look  over  and  take  care  of  the  congregation  in  respect  of 
their  inward  and  outward  condition — that  is,  to  see  how  it 
stands  between  God  and  their  souls,  and  how  it  is  with  them 
in  respect  of  their  outward  wants."  Dr.  Russell  speaks  of  the 
"helps  to  government "  in  one  church  in  London,  as  persons  who 
had  power  to  act  in  all  affairs  relating  to  the  discipline  of  the 
church  ;  affirms  that  seven  formed  a  quorum ;  and  that  four 
out  of  seven  had  power  to  determine  any  matter  which  might 
be  brought  before  them.  But  the  church  which  he  charged 
with  thus  violating  its  independency  afterwards  denied,  through 
its  minister,  that  any  such  exceptional  condition  existed. 

The  Confession  of  the  Seven  Churches  does  not  define,  except 
in  general  terms,  the  duties  of  the  deacon — "  the  elders  and 
deacons  "  are  "for  the  feeding,  governing,  serving,  and  build- 
ing up  of  Christ's  Church  "  (Article  xxxiv.)  The  Somerset 
Confession  is  equally  scanty  in  its  description,  and  rather  joins 
together  than  separates  the  definition  of  the  offices  of  elder  and 
deacon: — "The  Church  of  Jesus  Christ,  with  its  ministry, 
may  form  among  themselves,  make  choice  of  such  members  as 
are  fully  gifted  and  qualified  by  Christ,  and  approve  and  ordain 
such  by  fasting,  prayer,  and  the  laying  on  of  hands  (Acts  xiii. 


238  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

3  ;  xiv.  23) ;  for  the  performance  of  the  several  duties  where- 
unto  they  are  called,  Acts  xx.  28  ;  Roui.  xii.  G-S ;  2  Tim. 
iv.  2  ;  Acts  vi.  3."  The  first  General  Assembly  of  Particular 
Baptists  declare,  in  their  Con  fission,  "  that  the  way  appointed 
by  Christ  for  the  calling  of  any  person  fitted  and  gifted  by  the 
Holy  Spirit,  unto  the  office  of  bishop  or  elder  of  the  church  is, 
that  he  be  chosen  thereunto  by  the  common  suffrage  of  the 
church  itself,  and  solemnly  set  apart  by  fasting  and  prayer, 
with  imposition  of  the  hands  by  the  eldership  of  the  church,  if 
there  be  any  before  constituted  therein ;  and  of  a  deacon,  but 
he  be  chosen  by  the  like  suffrage,  and  set  apart  by  prayer, 
and  the  like  imposition  of  hands."  It  will,  therefore,  be 
observed,  that  while  both  sections  of  the  Baptists  give  unmis- 
takeable  evidence  of  holding  the  same  opinions  on  the  question 
of  the  election  and  ordination  of  the  deacons,  the  Particular 
Baptists  do  not,  like  the  General  Baptists,  carefully  define  the 
duties  of  the  office,  contenting  themselves  with  general  Scrip- 
ture references. 

There  is  one  passage  in  the  Broadmead  Records  on  the 
election  and  duties  of  deacons  that  does,  however,  show  the 
once  common  opinion  of  the  Particular  Baptist  churches. 
"  On  the  9th  Nov.  1680,  brothers  Ptobert  Bodenham  and 
Nathaniel  Snead  were  set  apart  by  fasting  and  prayer  for  the 
office  of  deacons,  which  they  were  before  chosen  to.  Hands 
were  not  laid  on  them,  because  the  pastor  somewhat  scrupled 
it,  though  it  was  the  judgment  of  the  church  to  use  that  cere- 
mony for  admission  and  confirmation.  The  Waste-book  quotes 
several  Scriptures,  and  Hooker's  Survey,  for  this  practice. 
The  pastor  showed  them  their  work,  and  showed  that  the 
money  collected  should  not  only  be  for  the  poor,  but  for  any 
other  use  for  the  good  of  the  congregation,  which  had  been  the 
judgment  of  this  church  for  thirty  years,  as  brother  Terrill,  one 
of  the  elders,  declared  ;  but  they  must  not  lay  it  out  without 
the  consent  of  the  church,  or,  at  least,  of  the  elders."  * 
■  Broadmead  Records  (Eev.  X.  Hajerafft  Ed.),  p.  212. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  239 


Deaconess. 

In  1678-9  the  Broadmead  Church,  Bristol,  determined  to 
elect  "four  sisters  of  the  church  that  were  widows,  each  of 
above  sixty  years  of  age,  to  be  deaconesses  for  the  congrega- 
tion, to  look  after  the  sick  sisters  (1  Tim.  v.  9) ;"  in  which 
purpose  they  followed  the  custom  not  infrequently  adopted 
both  by  General  and  Particular  Baptist  churches.  The  elders 
sent  two  sisters  to  ask  the  four  who  had  been  nominated 
whether  they  would  accept  the  office.  Three  at  once  con- 
sented, and  the  fourth  "  was  by  no  means  unwilling,"  but 
through  sickness  in  a  relative's  family  was  away  from  home. 
In  the  afterpart  of  the  same  day  ("  the  eighteenth  of  the  first 
month,  1679"),  the  three  sisters  being  present  with  the  church, 
"it  being  demanded  of  the  church  whether  they  would  now 
sett  them  apart,  which,  by  their  silence,  was  granted ;  and 
it  being  demanded  of  S.  Smith,  S.  Webb,  and  S.  Walton, 
whether  they  were  willing  to  bring  themselves  under  an  obliga- 
tion not  to  marry,  because  of  that  Scripture,  1  Tim.  v.  11,*' 
and  their  silence  also  giving  consent,  "  brother  Terrill,  one  of 
the  ruling  elders,"  defined  their  work  : — 

"1.  To  visit  ye  sick,  to  have  their  eye  and  ear  open  to 
hearken  and  enquire  who  were  sick,  and  to  visit  ye  sick  sisters 
in  an  especiall  manner,  to  see  what  they  need,  because  it  may 
not  be  soe  proper  for  men  in  several  cases. 

"  2.  To  visit,  not  only  sick  sisters,  but  sick  brethren  also; 
and  therefore  some  conceive  may  be  ye  reason  why  they  must 
be  sixty  years  of  age,  that  none  occasion  may  be  given  ;  and  as 
1  Tim.  v.  14. 

"  3.  Not  only  to  take  care  of  their  sick  bodies,  of  ye  brethren 
and  sisters,  but  that  their  wants  may  be  supplied,  and  therefore 
to  make  reports  back  of  their  conditions  to  ye  elders  and 
deacons  of  ye  congregation. 

"4.  It  is  their  duty  also  to  speak  a  word  to  their  souls,  as 
occasion  requires,  for  support  or  consolation,  to  build  them  up 


24o  DYE-PATHS  IX  DAPTIST  HISTORY. 

in  a  spiritual!  lively  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  for.  as  some  observe, 
there  is  not  an  office  of  Christ  in  His  Church  but  is  dipt  in  ye 
blood  of  our  Lord  Jes:    . 

"5.  Some  think  that  it  is  their  duty  to  attend  ye  sick;  and  if 
soe,  then  they  are  to  be  maintained  by  ye  church."'  ° 

After  this  formal  statement  the  three  deaconesses  -were  set 
apart  for  their  office  by  fasting  and  prayer.  Six  months  after. 
one  of  these  deaconesses,  S.  "Webb,  died ;  and  the  Records 
declare  of  her,  "  She  left  a  good  savour  behind  her;  did  much 
good  vrith  her  little.''  Nay,  more  :  "  She  laboured  hard  in 
her  way  of  distilling  waters,  a  small  trade,  and  gave  constantly 
while  she  lived  forty  shillings  a  year,  for  the  pastor,  and  left 
fifty  pounds  to  the  use  of  the  congregation." 

*  Broadmead  R  Edited  1  y  N.  Ilaycroft  (Lond 


CHAPTER  X. 
CHURCH  DISCIPLINE. 

THE  Baptists  have  been  very  careful,  in  all  their  Confes- 
sions, to  define  the  character  of  those  who  constitute  a 
Christian  church.  Smyth  says,  "  The  outward  and  visible 
church  consists  of  regenerated  and  believing  men,  as  much  as 
men  can  judge  thereof,  who  bring  forth  fruits  worthy  of 
amendment  of  life,  although  hypocrites  and  feigners  are  often 
hidden  among  the  repenting  "  (Article  lxvii).  The  Confession 
of  the  Seven  Churches  says  :  "  Jesus  Christ  hath  here  on  earth 
a  spiritual  kingdom,  which  is  His  church,  whom  He  hath  pur- 
chased and  redeemed  unto  Himself  as  a  peculiar  inheritance  ; 
which  church  is  a  company  of  visible  saints,  called  and 
separated  from  the  world  by  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  to 
the  visible  profession  of  the  faith  of  the  Gospel,  being  baptized 
unto  that  faith,  and  joined  to  the  Lord  and  to  each  other  by 
mutual  agreement  in  the  practical  enjoyment  of  the  ordinances 
commanded  by  Christ  their  head  and  King."  Other  and  later 
Confessions  agree  in  the  main  with  both.  But  as  "  a  holy  and 
sanctified  [people,"  acknowledging  Jesus  Christ  as  their  sole 
governor  and  king,  they  also  regarded  themselves  as  entrusted 
with  the  power  of  admonishing  the  disorderly,  or  cutting  off 
those  who  should  "  offend."  The  Confessions  of  both  sections 
of  the  Baptists  are  equally  explicit  on  this  point.  The  Confes- 
sion of  the  Seven  Churches  declares  :  "  Christ  hath  given  power 
to  His    church  to  receive  in  and  cast  out  any  member  that 


242  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

deserves  it ;  and  this  power  is  given  to  every  congregation,  and 
not  to  one  particular  person,  either  member  or  officer,  but  in 
relation  to  the  whole  body,  in  reference  to  their  faith  and 
fellowship  ;  that  every  particular  member  of  each  church,  how 
excellent,  great,  or  learned  soever,  is  subject  to  this  censure 
and  judgment :  and  that  the  church  ought  not,  without  great 
care  and  tenderness,  and  due  advice,  but  by  the  rule  of  faith,  to 
proceed  against  her  members"  (Articles  xlii.  and  xliii).  More 
briefly  the  Confession  presented  by  the  General  Baptists  to 
Charles  the  Second,  states :  "  that  the  true  church  of  Christ 
ought,  after  the  first  and  second  admonition,  to  reject  heretics  ; 
and,  in  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  withdraw  from  all  such  as 
profess  the  way  of  the  Lord,  but  walk  disorderly  in  their  con- 
versations, or  in  any  wise  cause  divisions  or  offences,  contrary 
to  the  doctrine  of  Christ  which  they  had  learned." 

This  indicates  the  general  basis  on  which  the  discipline  was 
founded.  But  the  discipline  itself  dealt  with  many  other 
things  besides  the  exclusion  of  unworthy  members.  There 
was  a  degree  of  oversight  of  the  whole  members,  which  appears 
little  less  than  inquisitorial.  The  muster-roll  of  the  members 
was  called  over  on  certain  days,  with  almost  military  strict- 
ness, as  if  they  were  an  army  campaigning.  And  so,  in  a 
spiritual  sense,  they  deemed  themselves.  In  the  Maze  Pond 
church,  and  doubtless  many  others  in  the  Seventeenth  Century, 
it  was  customary,  before  the  administration  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  to  read  over  the  church  register,  each  communicant 
answering  to  his  name.  Absentees  were  visited,  and,  if  no 
satisfactory  account  were  given,  they  were  reproved.  One 
day,  fourteen  were  absent,  and  the  messengers  who  visited 
them  reported  that  certain  of  them  were  absent  "  under  some 
inward  discomposures,"  that  one  had  to  go  into  the  country, 
and  that  others  had  "  differences  with  a  member  of  the 
church,"  which  were  now  in  the  course  of  being  removed. 
The  Fenstanton  church  also  adopted  this  rule :  "If  any  members 
of  the  congregation  shall  absent  themselves  from  the  assembly 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  243 

of  the  same  congregation  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  with- 
out manifesting  a  sufficient  cause,  they  shall  be  looked  upon  as 
offenders,  and  be  proceeded  against  accordingly."  The  Broad- 
mead  church  "had  all  the  members  names  engrossed  in  parch- 
ment, that  they  might  be  called  over  always  at  breaking  bread, 
to  see  who  did  omit  their  duty."  "For  the  prevention  of 
jealousy,"  another  church  decrees  that  absent  members  were 
to  "  certify  beforehand  when  any  occasion  hindered  them 
from  coming  to  the  assembly."  Even  wives  who  might  be 
"  kept  back  by  the  threatenings  of  their  husbands,"  were  not 
excused,  "  unless  they  were  restrained  by  force." 

But  while  the  men  who  were  of  "the  Particular  way" 
showed  a  commendable  desire  to  preserve  the  purity  of  their 
several  churches,  the  men  of  "  the  General  way  "  carried  their 
discipline  to  a  degree  of  strictness  which  will  now  be  hardly 
credited.  The  power  to  exercise  this  discipline  was  claimed 
by  the  whole  church  as  such.  "Mind  well,"  says  William 
Jeffery,  "the  power  to  judge  of  differences,  and  to  deal  with 
members,  lies  in  the  body,  the  church;  not  in  the  officers 
distinct,  or  apart  from,  the,  church."  "It  is  of  necessity," 
says  Grantham,  "that  the  church  of  God  hath  power,  and  a 
holy  way  allowed  of  God,  to  purge  herself  from  evil  workers." 
They  were,  therefore,  anxious  that  as  many  of  the  members  of 
the  church  as  possible  should  be  present  at  their  "  meeting.- 
for  discipline  ;"  and  a  neglect  of  them,  except  for  very  urgent 
reasons,  was  deemed  worthy  of  censure.  The  church  at 
Canterbury,  for  example,  agreed  in  1668,  "  that  in  case  any 
member  neglect  such  meetings  as  are  appointed  for  discipline, 
they  shall  send  the  cause  by  some  member  that  day,  or  other- 
wise declare  it  themselves  the  next  first  day,  and  upon  the 
failure  of  this,  the  person  shall  be  reprovable." 

Strictness  of  Discipline. 

The  oversight  of  the  several  members  was  minute  and  persis- 
tent.    Their  general  conduct,  their  domestic  life,  their  business, 

b  2 


244  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

their  connections  in  civil  society,  their  recreations,  and  even 
their  dress,  were  all  deemed  legitimate  subjects  for  the  strictest 
supervision.  As  it  was  impossible  for  one  minister  to  under- 
take any  effectual  superintendence  of  large  societies,  "  the 
General  men  "  discouraged,  in  the  beginning  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century,  the  formation  of  large  churches.  "  A  church  ought 
not  to  consist  of  such  a  multitude,"  says  one  of  their  earliest 
teachers,  "  as  cannot  have  particular  knowledge  of  one  another." 
The  difficulty  of  supervision  was  met,  partly  by  the  plurality  of 
elders  or  ministers,  and  partly,  when  the  societies  were  large, 
by  subdividing  the  church-members  into  districts,  and  appoint- 
ing to  each  a  separate  overseer.  Sometimes  the  deacons 
undertook  the  work  of  superintendence,  assisted  by  some 
experienced  member  of  the  church.  At  others,  a  number  of 
district  officers  were  chosen,  under  the  general  title  of  "  helps 
in  government."  Their  duties  were  denned  as  "  taking  parti- 
cular care  of  each  member  in  their  respective  divisions,  of  their 
conversation  and  carriage;  taking  also  a  strict  note  of  what  dis- 
orders may  arise,  and  bringing  them  regularly  before  the 
monthly  church- meetings."  The  "  meetings  for  discipline  " 
were  held  monthly,  quarterly,  or  yearly,  as  the  churches  might 
severally  determine. 

The  Broadmead  church  appointed  a  monthly  meeting  of  the 
brethren  only,  to  consider  of  persons  or  things  amiss  in  the 
congregation,  and  so  appointed  the  first  sixth  day  of  the  week, 
or  Friday,  that  should  happen  in  any  month ;  and  afterwards  it 
was  altered  to  the  first  second  day  of  the  month. 

Besides  this  formal  oversight,  by  officers  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  each  particular  member  was  expected  to  report,  at  the 
earliest  opportunity,  any  breach  of  good  conduct  on  the  part 
of  another  member,  and  any  omission  of  this  duty,  or  even 
delay  in  its  execution,  was  declared  to  be  "  suffering  sin  in  his 
brother,  as  obstructing  his  recovery,  and  bringing  the  church 
into  communion  with  the  sinner."  To  prevent,  however,  a 
frivolous  or  malicious  use  of  this  individual  duty,  the  accuser 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  245 

was  expected  to  state  the  case  in  writing,  to  sign  his  name  to 
the  accusation,  and  to  hand  a  copy  of  the  charge  itself  to  the 
person  accused.  Some  of  these  accusations  are  laconic  enough. 
We  give  a  single  illustration,  a  literal  copy  of  what  was 
presented  to  the  Baptist  church,  Dockhead,  shortly  after  the 
Rev.  Richard  Adams  removed  from  that  church  to  become 
minister  of  Devonshire- square  : — 

••Sir. — I  accuse  Mrs.  S — of  swearing  and  lying,  and  backbiting  and  in- 
gratitude. Eliza  D — ." 
"  Dec.  11, 1704." 

In  this  case,  however,  the  accuser,  according  to  the  law  of 
every  Baptist  church,  must  already  have  twice  admonished 
Mrs.  S —  ;  and  on  her  refusal  to  hear  the  second  admonition, 
'•  Eliza  W — "  was  expected  to  bring  the  matter  before  the 
church.  There  are  but  very  few  cases  on  record  of  personal 
offences  being  brought  thus  prominently  forward ;  but  in  this 
instance  Mrs.  S — had  been  guilty,  not  only  of  "sinning  against" 
her  sister,  but  "against  the  Lord."  "Sins  which  are  com- 
mitted directly  against  the  Lord,"  says  Grantham,  "  as  idolatry, 
murder,  whoredom,  theft,  drunkenness,  covetousness,  swearing, 
&c,  .  .  .  .  are  to  be  punished  with  great  severity,  and  the 
church  ought  speedily  to  censure  such  evil-doers,  as  unfit  for 
Christian  society,  until  reformed  of  such  impieties." 

Special  meetings  were  held  immediately  for  dealing  with  any 
notorious  and  scandalous  cases.  If  the  charges  were  proved, 
the  offender  was  excluded  from  the  society.  The  "  ordinance 
of  excommunication  "  was  always  regarded  as  one  of  solemn 
and  impressive  character.  The  elder,  "  by  the  authority  of  the 
church,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  delivered  the 
offender  to  Satan,  for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the 
spirit  might  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord."  "When  the 
offender  was  present,  this  sentence  was  pronounced  in  the  face 
of  the  whole  assembly,  was  accompanied  with  fervent  prayer 
to  God  for  the  offender's  recovery,  and  with  earnest  and  affec- 
tionate  expostulations  to  the  person  excommunicated.     If  he 


246  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


refused  to  attend  at  the  summons  of  the  church,  he  was  visited 
by  the  elders,  or  messengers  specially  appointed,  and  the  sen- 
tence was  then  pronounced  over  him  privately,  with  suitable 
counsels  and  admonitions.  The  records  of  some  churches 
show  that  the  offender,  well  knowing  what  was  in  store,  often 
kept  out  of  the  way  for  months  together,  in  the  vain  hope  that 
he  should  be  forgotten. 

Here  is  an  entry  from  a  church  book  : — 

"On  the  eight- and-twentieth  day  of  the  first  month  (1G53), 
Edmond  Maile  and  John  Denne  met  with  John  Martin,  formerly 
of  Hemingford,  but  now  of  Ely,  who  had  been  formerly  ad- 
monished and  reproved  according  to  the  rules  of  Scripture,  but 
yet  remaining  perverse  and  obstinate,  and  we  desired  that  we 
might  speak  with  him,  which  he  refused,  and  offered  to  go 
away,  whereupon  we  desired  him  to  stay ;  and  he  staying,  we 
spake  unto  him,  saying  :  '  You  have  a  long  time  absented  your- 
self from  the  congregation,  denying  the  ordinances  of  God,  for 
which  you  have  been  formerly  admonished,  but  have  not  given 
us  any  satisfactory  answer,  but-  tell  us  that  we  have  not  God.' 
Here  he  interrupted  us,  saying,  l  I  say  yet  that  ye  have  not 
God,'  and  then  he  went  away.  Whereupon  we  follow  him, 
desiring  to  speak  with  him ;  but  he  said  he  had  nothing  to  say 
to  us  ;  and  offered  to  go  away.  Then  we  said,  '  What !  are  you 
afraid  to  encounter  with  the  truth  ?  '  '  The  truth,'  said  he,  *  I 
know  none  ye  have  ; '  and  so  he  went  away,  whereupon  we 
concluded,  considering  his  former  answers  to  our  admonitions, 
to  go  after  him  again,  and  to  excommunicate  him  ;  and,  accord- 
ingly we  went  after  him,  and  speaking  with  him,  did  excom- 
municate him,  for  these  ensuing  reasons,  namely  :  first,  for  for- 
saking the  assembly  of  the  saints ;  secondly,  for  slighting  and 
despising  the  ordinances  of  God  ;  thirdly,  for  despising  and 
contemning  the  reproof  and  admonition  of  the  church." 

The  church  did  not  consider  that  its  duty  was  ended, 
when  this  formal  excommunication  had  taken  place.  Certain 
brethren,  mostly  the   "  messengers  "  who    delivered  the   sen- 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  247 

tence  of  excommunication,  were  appointed  from  time  to  time 
to  search  him  out,  and  exhort  him  to  repent  and  do  his  first 
works.  "It  is  a  great  question,"  says  Grantham,  "how  long 
a  person  under  excommunication  may  be  admonished  as  a 
brother.  It  may  be  answered  :  So  long  as  he  is  not  debauched 
in  life,  and  there  is  any  hope  of  his  recovery;  for  sith  this 
ordinance  is  for  the  saving  of  the  soul,  we  are  not  to  be  im- 
patient, but  still  as  we  may,  call  upon  the  sinner  to  remember 
from  whence  he  has  fallen,  and  to  repent,  and  to  pray  for  his 
return."  These  visits  were  often  repeated,  until  hardened  or 
undisguised  profligacy  rendered  the  case  hopeless,  or  death 
removed  the  unhappy  offender  out  of  the  reach  of  the  good 
offices  of  the  messengers. 

Some  sections  of  the  Baptists  thought  the  church  had  a 
power  of  inflicting  a  higher  kind  of  excommunication,  which 
entirely  cut  off  the  offender  from  all  possibility  of  recon- 
ciliation, expressed  by  the  misread  words  of  the  Apostle, 
Anathema  Maranatha.  But  though  they  claimed  this  power, 
yet  they  esteemed  it  dangerous  for  any  society  to  at- 
tempt to  exercise  it.  The  Orthodox  Creed,  in  its  thirty-fourth 
article  declares,  after  referring  to  "  the  personal  and  private 
trespasses  between  party  and  party,"  "but,  in  case  there  be 
any  wicked,  public,  and  scandalous  sinners,  or  obstinate 
heretics,  then  the  church  ought  speedily  to  convene  her  mem- 
bers, and  labour  to  convict  them  of  their  sin  and  heresy,  and 
schism,  and  profaneness,  whatsoever  it  be ;  and  after  such 
regular  suspension  and  due  admonition,  if  such  sinners  repent 
not,  that  then,  for  the  honour  of  God,  and  preserving  the  credit 
of  religion,  and  in  order  to  save  the  sinner's  soul,  and  good  of 
the  church,  in  obedience  to  God's  law  to  proceed  and  excom- 
municate the  sinner,  by  a  judicial  sentence,  in  the  name  of 
Christ  and  His  Church,  tendering  an  admonition  of  repentance 
to  him,  with  gravity,  love,  and  authority ;  and  all  this  without 
hypocrisy,  and  partiality,  praying  for  the  sinner,  that  his  soul 
may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord ;  and  under  this  second 


24S  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


degree  of  withdrawing,  or  excommunication,  to  account  him  as 
a  heathen  or  publican,  that  he  may  be  ashamed.  But  upon 
the  third,  and  highest  act  of  excommunication,  it  being  a  most 
dreadful  thunderclap  of  God's  judgment,  it  is  most  difficult  for 
any  church  now  to  proceed  in,  it  being  difficult  to  know  when  any 
man  hath  sinned  the  unpardonable  sin,  and  80  to  incur  total 
cutting  of  from  the  Church.'' 

In  addition  to  the  excommunication  of  the  offender  before 
the  assembled  church,  or  privately  by  messengers,  it  was 
deemed  necessary,  to  vindicate  the  honour  of  religion,  that  the 
separation  of  the  offender  from  the  congregation  should  be 
openly  announced  to  the  world.  This  was  done  sometimes 
during  the  next  ensuing  public  services  of  the  church ;  but  in 
offences  of  a  private  nature,  the  excommunication  was  stated 
to  the  church  members  alone,  and  generally  at  the  time  of 
holding  the  Lord's  Supper. 

The  Treatment  of  Heretics. 

Heretics  were  treated  in  the  same  manner.  They  were  first 
privately  admonished ;  and  on  refusing  to  take  note  of  the 
first  admonition,  were  summoned  to  answer  the  charges  made 
against  them  before  the  assembled  church.  Here  they  were 
allowed  to  defend  themselves.  In  1678,  for  example,  a 
minister  of  the  church  at  Shad  Thames  was  accused  of  "preach- 
ing heresy.  He  was  ''desired  to  come  before  the  congre- 
gation, and  vindicate  his  doctrine,  and  to  be  reclaimed  from 
so  great  an  error."  The  minister  obeyed,  and  after  a 
full  investigation,  was  acquitted.  The  person  who  brought  the 
charge  was  treated  as  "a  false  accuser,"  and  "  ordered  to 
make  satisfaction."  In  the  year  1696,  one  of  the  nine  persons 
appointed  as  the  treasurers  of  the  fund  by  the  first  Particular 
Baptist  General  Assembly,  was  expelled  from  the  church  at 
Petty  France,  London,  for  heresy.  The  record  of  this  expul- 
sion was  as  follows:  "Mr.  Robert  Bristow  was  rejected  and 
cast  out  of  the    communion,    after   much   patience   exercised 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  249 

towards  him,  and  strenuous  endeavours  used  to  recover  him 
out  of  dangerous  errors  he  was  fallen  into  ;  namely,  the  renun- 
ciation of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  particularly  the  deity 
of  Christ,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  so  rooting  up  the  very 
foundation  of  the  Christian  religion." 

The  General  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  had,  again 
and  again,  to  admonish  men  who,  during  the  close  of  the 
Seventeenth  Century,  were  beginning  to  preach  Socinianism. 
In  1692,  they  say,  "  Upon  the  complaint  made  from  the 
brethren  meeting  in  and  about  Shrewsbury  of  persons  teaching 
and  maintaining  doctrines  contrary  to  the  Articles  of  Faith,  the 
Assembly  have  agreed  that  a  letter  should  be  sent  to  our 
brother  Brown,  and  the  rest  of  our  brethren  here,  and  also  our 
brother,  touching  the  same."  This  letter  declares  their  advice 
to  be  "  that  they  call  in  the  assistance  of  the  sister  churches 
of  their  parts,  and  take  such  method  to  reclaim  "  these  persons 
"  as  shall  be  judged  most  necessary."  (MS.  Proceedings  of 
the  Assembly.) 

The  common  "  heresies  "  for  which  many  were  cut  off  from 
the  General  Baptist  churches  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  were 
Quakerism,  Calvinism,  and  Eantism.  In  Cambridgeshire  and 
Huntingdonshire  especially,  the  Quakers  gave  the  Baptist 
churches  perpetual  trouble.  In  the  records  of  one  church,  the 
ever-recurring  reason  for  excommunication  is  this  : — "  For 
slighting  and  despising  all  the  ordinances  of  the  Lord  ;  saying, 
that  they  would  not  be  in  such  bondage  as  to  observe  such  low 
and  carnal  things."  "For  utterly  denying  preaching,  baptisms, 
meetings,  breaking  of  bread,  &c."  "For  denying  the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  ordinances  of  God,  and.  for  affirming  that  the 
doctrine  preached  and  received  was  not  the  doctrine  of  Christ, 
but  the  doctrine  of  the  devil."  Mr.  John  Denne  and  his  com- 
panion were  thus  greeted  by  Thomas  Ross,  at  Chatteris,  when 
they  went  "  to  admonish  him  a  second  time  :  " — "  Baptism  we 
disown  ;  preaching  we  disown  ;  we  disown  you  all,  with  the 
ordinances  which  you  practice  !  "     In  some  cases,  the  larger 


25o  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

part  of  the  village  churches  went  bodily  over  from  the  General 
Baptists  to  the  Quakers. 

Occasionally,  when  admonishing  or  excommunicating  the 
members  of  the  church  who  had  embraced  the  Quaker  views, 
the  Baptist  messengers  came  into  collision  with  the  Quaker 
preachers.  John  Ray,  for  instance,  tells  us  that  in  1G55,  he 
went  to  Littleport  "to  degrade  and  excommunicate  those  two 
apostates,  Samuel  and  Ezekiel  Cater,"  who  were  "persons  of 
eminence  in  the  church  " — elders,  in  fact :  and  after  he  had 
done  this,  he  "  went  to  the  common  meeting  place  of  the 
town,"*  "  declared  publicly  for  what  purpose  he  had  come,'' 
"  preached  Jesus,  both  in  His  person  and  ordinances,"  vindicat- 
ing them  "  from  those  wicked  whimsies  and  nonsensical  inter- 
pretations which  the  Quakers  put  upon  them,"'  and  that  "when 
he  had  done,  one  of  the  Quakers  did  rail  on  him  in  such  a 
foolish,  rude,  and  frothy  manner,  that  he  turned  away  without 
answering  thereto,  lest  he  should  be  like  him.  At  which,  all 
the  Quakers  boasted  and  derided ;  yet  all  sober  and  good 
people  approved  it." 

The  Hexham  church,  in  a  letter  sent  on  "  1st  day,  1st 
month,  1G53,"  to  the  church  in  Coleman  Street,  London, 
'•with  our  reverend  brethren,  Mr.  Hansard  Knollys  and  Mr. 
John  Perry,"'  thus  writes  :  "  We  are  a  people  brought  forth  in 
these  parts  of  the  land  where  iniquity  doth  most  abound,  and 
many  deceivers  are  risen  up ;  yea,  even  swarms  in  these 
northern  parts,  especially  of  those  called  Quakers,  whose  per- 
nicious ways  many  do  follow ;  a  generation  whose  main  design 
is  to  shatter  the  churches  of  the  saints,  by  stealing  away  the 
tender  lambs  out  of  the  fold  of  the  Lord  Jesus  ;  crying  down 
the  Scriptures,  those  sacred  oracles  of  truth,  as  a  dead  letter, 
and  crying  up  the  lights  within,  as  they  call  it ;  making  great 
shows  of  self-denial  in  a  voluntary  humility,  and  of  neglecting 
the  body,  which  are  very  taking  with  the  weak  ones ;  all  for  a 

*  That  is.  the  parish  church  ;  sometimes  called  "  The  Stone  House ;"  aud 
by  others,  after  George  Fox,  "  The  Steeple  House."' 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  251 

Christ  within,  nothing  for  a  Christ  without."  In  the  following 
year  Thomas  Tillam  tells  the  church  at  Leominster,  in  another 
letter,  that  while  they  at  Hexham  are  "  not  any  of  them  tainted 
with  that  Arminian  poison  that  hath  so  sadly  infected  other 
baptized  churches,  those  deceived  souls,  called  Quakers,  have 
been  very  active  in  these  parts,  and  have  seduced  two  of  our 
society,  and  six  of  the  Newcastle  church."  It  is  evident  from 
this  statement  that  the  Calvinistic  Ba/ptist  churches  were  as 
much  afraid  of  Arminianism  as  the  General  Baptist  churches 
were  of  Calvinism,  and  that  they  both  suffered  from  the  teach- 
ings of  the  disciples  of  George  Fox. 

The  Broadmead  Records  give  this  quaint  account  of  the 
spread  of  Quakerism  in  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  and  the 
defection  of  one  of  their  number : — "  Sathan  deceived  many 
profane  people  to  embrace  their  upstart  notions  of  Quakerisme, 
under  a  pretence  of  a  great  degree  of  holinesse,  by  hearkening 
to  ye  light  within,  which  they  called  Christ  (laying  aside  ye 
manhood  of  our  blessed  Redeemer) ;  whereas  that  light  is  but 
ye  light  of  nature,  which  in  common  is  planted  in  all  mankinde 
— ye  same  with  that  ye  Indians  and  ye  Blackamores  have,  and 
ye  remotest  Indians,  which  know  not  Christ,  nor  ever  heard 
of  him ;  and  they  omit  ye  light  of  ye  Word  of  ye  Lord, 
and  ye  light  of  God's  Spirit,  proceeding  from  ye  Father, 
by  ye  Word,  or  Holy  Scriptures.  Thus  smoake  out  of  ye 
bottomless  pit  arose,  and  ye  locust  doctrine  came  forth,  as 
it  is  written  (Rev.  chap.  ix.  2,  3,  4).  At  this  time  Dennis 
Hollister,  a  grocer  in  High  Street,  being  a  member  of  this 
church,  the  meeting  for  Conference  on  ye  fifth  day  of  ye  week 
was  usually  at  his  house.  And  he  was  naturally  a  man  of  an 
high  spirit,  Dyotrepkes-like  loved  to  have  ye  pre-eminence  in 
ye  church  ;  and  at  that  time  had  great  influence  upon  ye 
magistrates  of  ye  citty,  and  by  them  was  chosen  to  be  a  Parlia- 
ment man  for  ye  City  of  Bristol ;  that  is,  one  of  them  called 
by  ye  Little  Parliament,  in  ye  days  of  Oliver  Cromwell,  called 
Lord  Protector,  where  as  God  alone  was  the  Protector  of  His 


252  DYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


people  (but  we  sinned).  On  this  occasion  Hollister,  staying 
in  London,  had  sucked  in  some  principles  of  this  upstart  locust 
doctrine,,  from  a  sorte  of  people  afterwards  called  Quakers; 
thai  when  that  Parliament  was  dissolved  by  Oliver,  Dennis 
came  home  from  London  with  his  heart  full  of  discontent,  and 
his  head  full  of  poisonous  new  notions  (as  was  discerned  by 
some  of  ye  members  of  ye  church).  And  he  began  to  vent 
himselfe  ;  and  at  one  meeting  of  the  church,  after  he  came 
down,  he  did  blasphemously  Bay,  '  Ye  Bible  was  ye  plague  of 
England.'  From  that  time  ye  church  would  meet  noe  more  at 
his  house. 

In  the  year  1G57  the  same  church  tells  us  that  it  was  still 
"  conflicting  with  this  new,  upstart  error  of  Quakerisme,  began 
(no  doubt)  by  Sathan,  and  carried  on  by  his  instruments,  Popish 
seminaries,  Jesuit?,  and  some  apostate  professors,  that  had  not 
received  the  truth  in  the  love  of  it,  and  by  some  ignorant, 
bewitched,  and  deluded  people,  that  knew  not  whereof  they 
affirmed.  And  such  Quakers  many  times  would  come  into  our 
meetings  on  ye  Lord's-day,  in  ye  open  publique  places,  called 
churches,  which  we  had  then  the  liberty  to  be  in,  during  all  ye 
time  of  Oliver  s  reign,  and  in  ye  midst  of  ye  minister's  sermon, 
the}-  would,  with  a  loud  voice,  cry  out  against  them,  calling 
them  hirelings  and  deceivers,  and  they  would  say  to  ye  people, 
that  they  must  turn  to  ye  light  within,  their  teacher, 
and  that  was  Christ  within.  Thus,  with  many  other  railing 
and  judging  and  condemning  words  they  would  frequently 
trouble  us,  [shaking,  trembling,  and  quaking,  like  persons  in 
a  fix  of  ayue),  while  they  spake  with  a  screaming  voice,  and 
would  not  cease  until  they  were  carried  forth  of  ye  place, 
pretending  they  were  moved  by  ye  Spirit  to  come  and 
warn  us.  Thus  Sathan  transformed  himself  like  an  angel  of 
light,  and  strove  against  ye  true  followers  of  Christ."  t 

That  an}-  of  their  church  members  should  hesitate  or  refuse 

*  Broadmead  Records  (Tier.  X.  Haycroft),  pp.  30,  37. 
f  Pp.  -17,  48. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  253 

to  confess  that  Christ  died  for  all   men,  was  regarded  by  the 
General  Baptist  churches  as  "  denying  the  faith,"   and  was 
deemed  a  sufficient  ground  for  exclusion.     Their  baptism  also 
was  pronounced  invalid,  if  they  held  Calvinistic  views,  as  Luke 
Howard  points  out  in  the  passage  quoted  from  him  in  an  earlier 
part  of  this  book.     "  Widow  Wiggs,  of  Dunton,  in  the  county 
of  Bedford,"  was,  according  to  the  Records  of  the  Fenstantou 
Church,  first  reproved  for  this,  among  other  things,  by  John 
Denne  ;  she  was  next  desired  "  to  come  over  to  the  following 
General  Meeting  at  Caxton  Pastures,  on  the  third  day  of  the 
fifth  month  (1653),  to  speak  before  the  congregation.     After 
the, pros  and  cons  were  heard,  "  Widow  Wiggs  "twas  informed 
"  that,  seeing  she  would  not  be  otherwise  minded,  the  Church 
could  not  have  any  fellowship  or  communion  with  her."     The 
same  Records  also  tell  us  of  one  John  Matthews,   "  a  person  of 
some  eminency,"  who  had  been  to  Ireland  since  he  had  left 
Huntingdonshire,  and  had  preached  there,  "having  altered  his 
judgment,"  was    "reproved  for  his  sin,"    and    "exhorted  to 
consider  from  whence  he  had  fallen,  and  repent  and  turn  to  the 
Lord."     "The  things   affirmed  by"  Matthews  were:    "that 
Christ  died  only   for   the    elect,   even    such  as   either  do,   or 
shall   believe   on  Him  ;    that   God  hath,   from  the    beginning 
chosen  a  certain    number   of   persons   to    Himself,  to   which 
persons  He  cometh  with  such  a  compulsive  power,  that  they 
cannot  resist ;    and  that  God  hath,  from  the  beginning,  pre- 
ordained a  certain  number  of  persons  to  condemnation,  from 
which  persons  he  withholdeth  all  manner  of  power,  so   that 
there  is  not  any  possibility  of  their  believing."     Three  several 
times  Matthew  was  "reproved,"  but  without  effect.     He  was 
next  summoned  before  "the   assembly  of  the  congregation;" 
but  here  he  still  resisted  reproof :  "  Whereupon  we,  knowing 
how   he  denied  the  faith   which   formerly  he  professed,    and 
also   laboured  to   the   utmost   of    his    power    to    destroy   it 
in  all  places ;  and   likewise  despised  and  contemned  all  our 
words   of  reproof  and   admonition,  and  finding    no   hope   of 


254  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

recovery,  but  a  stubborn  persisting  in  his  evil,  we  delivered 
him  under  Satan." 

Still  later  than  this,  that  is,  in  169G,  this  question  was  pro- 
posed to  the  General  Assembly:  "Whether  an  elder,  leaving 
a  church  without  their  consent  only  for  changing  his  opinion 
from  the  General  love  of  God  to  the  Particular,  be  irregular 
and  worthy  of  blame :  it  was  agreed  in  the  affirmative ;  and 
that  such  elder  may  not  be  allowed  to  preach  among  us  before 
he  acknowledge  his  evil,  and  give  satisfaction  ;  and  we  advise 
such  elders  do  turn  to  the  church."* 

Rantism  was  another  source  of  trouble  to  the  Baptist 
churches  at  this  period.  One  of  the  victims  of  this  singular 
rhapsody,  a  certain  Mrs.  Austin,  of  Dunton,  stoutly  contended 
with  the  messengers  who  were  sent  to  reprove  her.  "  She 
looked  upon  the  Scriptures  as  nothing ;  she  trampled  them 
under  her  feet.  We," — that  is,  John  Denne  and  "Brother 
Gilman," — "  said  we  were  very  sorry  to  hear  her  despise  and 
speak  evil  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  and  desired  her  to  take 
heed  what  she  said.  She  answered,  '  I  believe  you  are  sorry  ; 
but  I  glory  in  your  trouble,  being  wrapt  up  in  God ;  '  and 
then  much  did  she  speak  of  the  excellency  of  her  condition. 
We  told  her  she  was  deceived,  for  she  was  only  deluded 
by  the  devil,  and  separated  herself  from  God.  She  then 
said,  '  I  had  as  lieve  be  with  the  devil  as  with  God 
Himself ;  and  I  trample  faith  under  my  feet.'  Being  almost 
amazed  to  hear  her,  we  said  she  was  one  of  them  the  Scrip- 
tures speak  of  which  do  trample  under  foot  the  Son  of  God — 
(here  she  interrupted,  and  said,  '  I  do  so,') — and  count  the 
blood  of  the  covenant  wherewith  they  are  sanctified,  an  unholy 
thing.  She  asked  what  we  meant  by  '  the  blood  of  the 
covenant  ?'  We  said,  '  The  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.' 
She  said,  '  What,  He  that  died  upon  the  cross  at  Jerusalem  "?' 
He  is  nothing  to  me.  I  do  not  care  for  Him  !'  Then,  being 
weary  with  hearing  her  utter  these,  and  many  other  wicked 
*  JUS.  Proceedings  of  the  Assembly.    Vol.  i.  p.  10. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  255 

and  blasphemous  speeches  against  the  Lord  God  and  His  Son 
Jesus  Christ,  His  Church,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures,  we  excom- 
municated her ;  and  in  pronouncing  the  sentence,  we  used 
these  words :  '  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  do 
separate  you  from  the  Church  of  God,  delivering  you  unto 
Satan,  to  whom  you  have  yielded  yourself  a  servant  to  obey.' 
She  replied,  and  said,  '  I  rejoice  to  be  with  the  devil ;  I  had 
rather  be  with  him  than  with  you.'  Then  we  said,  '  To  him 
we  leave  you  with  whom  ye  rejoice  to  be.'  And  so  we 
departed  from  her."* 

Samuel  Fisher  says,  in  his  Baby  Baptism  mere  Babyism 
(1653),  that  "  Some  Ranters  are  not  ashamed  to  say  they  are 
Christ  and  God ;  and  there  is  no  other  God  than  they,  and 
what's  in  them  ;  and  such  like  blasphemies."  Christ's  coming 
is  none  other  than  "  His  coming  into  men  by  His  spirit,  or 
in  such  manifestations  in  men's  hearts,  that  they  may  be  able 
to  live  up  with  Him  in  Spirit  so  as  no  more  to  need  such  lower 
helps  from  outward  administrations."  But  the  opinions  of  these 
Seventeenth  Century  Ranters,  so  unlike  the  men  who  are  now 
vulgarly  designated  by  that  term,  are  more  fully  to  be  gathered 
from  the  account  given  by  Mr.  H.  Jessy,  of  one  who,  after 
falling  from  "  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ,  and  adopting  the 
fullest  opinions  of  the  Ranters,  repented  of  his  errors,  confesses 
his  faults  before  the  assembled  church  at  Devonshire  Square, 
over  which  William  Kiffin  was  pastor,  and  was  thereupon 
restored.  "Truly,  my  friends,"  said  this  person,  in  his  open 
recantation,  "  I  cannot  but  speak  it  with  much  grief  of  spirit ; 
I  have  been  held  by  that  deceiver  Satan  presenting  lies  to  my 
spirit,  under  the  pretence  of  glorious  truths.  And  the  first 
thing  he  wrought  in  me  was  an  exceeding  slight  esteem  of  the 
Scripture,  so  that  the  best  thoughts  and  expressions  I  used  of 
the  Scripture  was,  calling  it  a  letter  or  ink  and  paper.  And  a 
second  thing  was,  a  Christ  in  me,  in  opposition  to  the  Christ  of 
God ;  persuading  me,  that  to  know  Christ  as  He  was  declared 
*  Fenstanton  Records,  pp.  90,  91. 


256  EYE-PATHS  IN  EAPTIST  HISTORY. 


in  the  Scriptures,  was  to  know  Him  after  the  flesh  ;  so  that 
indeed  I  was  brought  to  deny  any  Christ  at  all,  and  did  not 
believe  that  there  was  either  angel  or  spirit,  only  was  convinced 
by  things  that  do  appear,  that  there  Was  a  God  ;  and  that  all 
His  creatures  received  of  this  power  and  spirit,  which  was  their 
life  ;  and  as  man  was  the  most  excellent  creature,  so  there  is 
more  of  that  spirit  manifested  in  him  than  in  any  other 
creature.  And  when  his  life  was  taken  from  him,  I  did  believe 
he  should  return  to  the  matter  of  which  he  was  made,  and 
should  neither  enjoy  happiness  nor  misery,  but  perish  as  the 
brutes  of  the  earth." 

John  Denne  and  Brother  Gihnan,  as  "Messengers  to  divulge 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,"  visited,  among  other  places,  New- 
port, in  Essex,  and  at  once  sought  the  house  of  one  Fordham, 
a  tanner.  They  were  not  long  before  (despite  his  hospitable 
welcome)  they  found  him  largely  tainted  with  Eantism,  in  its 
most  pernicious  form.  "All  that  proceedeth  from  God  is 
God,"  said  this  Essex  tanner.  "  He  also  affirmed  that  God 
was  darkness  to  some  men  ;  that  Christ  was  all  in  all,  and 
therefore  there  was  nothing  but  Christ ;  that  men  were  earned 
on  to  sin  by  the  power  of  God."  The  messengers  declare  that 
he  affirmed  these  things  without  any  proof;  "  but  in  dealing 
with  the  last  statement,  they  asked  Fordham  "  Whether  or  no 
it  were  a  sin  if  a  man  should  steal  his  horse  ?  "  His  answer  is 
ingenious,  to  say  the  least  of  it.  "  If  he  took  it,  believing  that 
he  had  a  right  unto  him  equal  with  himself,  it  was  no  sin ;  but 
if  he  did  not  believe  he  had  a  right  unto  him,  then  it  was  sin." 
More  talk  ensued  ;  and  though  it  was  now  dark  and  late,  they 
whispered  with  one  another  aside  as  to  "  whether  it  were  safe 
to  abide  in  the  house  all  night  "  with  such  a  heretic.  He 
pressed  his  hospitalities  upon  them,  and  hoped  they  would  not 
be  angry  with  him  for  his  opinions  ;  but  they  "  departed,  and 
went  up  and  down  the  town  to  find  a  lodging  in  the  night,  which 
at  last  God  provided  for  us,"  thus  doing  as  tradition  makes  the 
Apostle  John  to  have  done,  only  in  a  slower  fashion,  when  he 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  257 

found  Cerinthus,  the  arch  heretic,  was  under  the  same  roof. 
It  is  not  recorded  whether  the  Essex  tanner  was  excommuni- 
cated at  that  time  ;  but  the  messengers  departed  from  Newport 
itself,  saying,  "  "We  cannot  perceive  but  that  all  fear  of  God, 
for  aught  we  can  hear,  is  extinct  in  this  place."  Mr.  Denne 
was  afterwards  greatly  needed  at  Canterbury,  and  the  neigh- 
bourhood, because  "  vain  talkers,  and  deceivers  of  mind,  espe- 
cially they  called  Ranters,"  were  beginning  to  give  trouble  to 
the  church.  He  had  "  snatched  some  of  them  as  firebrands  " 
out  of  the  fire  in  other  places ;  and  he  might  be  the  means  of 
doing  the  same  there  also.  The  church  at  Caxton  Pastures  was 
therefore  desired  to  send  him  "  to  stay  with  them  as  long  as  the 
Lord  shall  please,  there  being  very  great  need  of  him." 

Wesleyanism. 

*-■'  Little  less  than  a  hundred  years  after  this  period,  another 
form  of  "  heresy "  was  troubling  some  of  the  Calvinistic 
Baptist  churches.  In  September,  1742,  messengers  were 
appointed  by  the  Broadmead  church,  Bristol,  to  visit  three  of 
their  members,  and  "jto  reprove  them  for  going  frequently  to 
hear  John  and  Charles  Wesley."  They  were  asked  "  to  learn 
by  converse  with  them  whether  they  had  imbibed  their  (the 
Wesley's)  corrupt  notions."  The  messengers  reported  that  the 
said  members  "had  fallen  into  the  error  of  general  redemption, 
falling  from  grace,  and  sinless  perfection  in  this  life."  They 
were  therefore  again  deputed  to  tell  them  "  that  the  church  was 
very  sorry  to  hear  that  they  had  imbibed  such  corrupt  notions  ; 
to  admonish  them  to  read  the  Scriptures,  and  attend  the 
preaching  of  the  truth  with  us,  and  not  where  such  principles 
were  taught,  that  they  might  be  brought  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth  ;  and  that  in  the  meantime  we  should  not  receive  them 
into  communion  if  they  had  confessed  such  principles  ;  and 
that,  as  such  notions  are  inconsistent  with  the  honour  that 
should  be  given  to  Christ  at  His  own  table,  they  should  forbear 
coming  to  it  till  they  were  more  careful  of  their  walk,  and 

s 


258  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


better  principled."  Again,  in  April,  1744,  messengers  were 
sent  "  to  brother  Davis  and  his  wife,  to  inquire  whether  they 
did  not  receive  the  Lord's  Supper  from  Mr.  Wesley,  as  well  as 
constantly  attend  his  meetings." 

Amusements. 

In  illustration  of  the  strict  oversight  of  the  general  conduct, 
domestic  life,  amusements,  dress,  &c,  of  the  Baptist  churches 
during  the  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth  Centuries,  some  examples 
may  be  quoted.  We  begin  with  the  ministers.  A  certain  Mr. 
Ingello,  one  of  the  early  pastors  of  Broadmead,  Bristol, 
"  offended  " — so  we  learn  from  the  Records — "  divers  members 
of  his  congregation  with  his  flaunting  apparel ;  for  he,  being  a 
thin,  spare,  slender  person,  did  goe  very  neate,  and  in  costly 
trimm,  and  began  to  exceed  in  some  garments  not  becoming  ye 
Gospel,  much  lesse  a  minister  of  Christ."  Nor  was  this  his  only 
weakness.  Some  of  his  friends  were  "  troubled  and  offended  be- 
cause of  his  being  given  so  much  to  music,  not  only  at  his  owne 
house,  but  at  houses  of  entertainment  out  of  the  towne  ;  some- 
times with  some  of  his  relations,  and  gentry  of  ye  citty  of 
his  acquaintance,  he  would  be  at  his  favourite  recreation." 
"  Dealeing  with  him"  for  both  "by  way  of  admonition  and 
entreaty"  failed  "  to  work  upon  him  to  leave  his  musick,"  or, 
we  suppose,  to  alter  his  dress.  "  Take  away  my  music,"  said 
Mr.  Ingello,  "  and  you  take  away  my  life."  His  reply  "  offended 
and  troubled  ye  lively  and  most  serious  watchfull  members," 
and  their  affections  now  "  began  to  alienate  from  him,  and  to 
hearken  after  another."  It  was,  doubtless,  regarded  as  a 
justification  of  the  suspicions  cherished  by  "ye  lively  and 
most  serious,"  that  Mr.  Ingello  subsequently  conformed,  became 
a  Doctor  of  Divinity,  and  Fellow  of  Eton  College.  He  died 
in  1683,  and  was  buried  in  the  chapel  of  Eton  College. 

John  Blowes,  one  of  "  the  teachers  in  the  congregation"  at 
Eltisley,  in  1658,  had  more  muscular  tastes  than  Mr.  Ingello. 
Football  was  apparently  his  special  delight.    On  a  day  set  apart 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  259 

for  fasting  and  prayer,  and  the  election  of  a  deacon,  John 
Blowes,  with  a  singular  disregard  to  the  claims  of  the  chureh, 
and  the  fitness  of  things,  not  only  absented  himself  from  the 
meeting,  but  "  was  one  of  the  principal  appointers  in  a  great 
football  play."  He  had  before  t^tis  time  given  the  church 
some  trouble  about  money  matters  (borrowing  and  not  willingly 
paying  again),  and  Samuel  Loveday,  of  London,  had  written 
doubtfully  about  him.  "  I  fear,"  said  Loveday,  "  he  is  not  as 
he  ought  to  be."  The  solemn  meeting  from  which  Blowes  was 
absent,  was  but  scantily  attended,  and  the  elders  were  1 
couraged.  However,  a  deacon  was  duly  elected,  and  set  apart 
for  his  office ;  when  Blowes'  absence  being  noticed,  Bobert 
Jackson  explained  the  unseemly  cause.  "  It  was  concluded  a 
great  evil  "  by  the  elders  and  brethren  present,  "  that  Blowes 
should  not  only  be  absent  from  the  meeting,  but  also  instru- 
mental in  the  appointing  such  a  foolish  and  wicked  matter, 
and  that  upon  a  day  which  he  knew  to  be  set  apart  by  the 
church  for  fasting  and  prayer."  John  Denne  was  at  once 
appointed  to  reprove  him  for  his  conduct,  and  to  summon  him 
to  appear  "at  the  next  general  meeting  to  give  an  account 
thereof."  The  general  meeting  was  held  "on  the  two-and- 
twentieth  day  of  the  sixth  month"  at  Fenstanton.  John 
Denne,  at  this  meeting,  first  of  all  offered  a  few  words  of 
general  exhortation,  and  then  a  general  reproof  to  the  brethren 
for  their  absence  on  the  fast  day.  Blowes'  case  now  came  on. 
Denne  said,  Blowes  "  stood  to  justify  his  actions  ;  "  but  he  was 
then  present  to  answer  for  himself.  It  was  "  adjudged  a 
great  evil,"  this  football  playing  of  Blowes,  together  with  his 
absence  from  the  meeting  of  the  congregation ;  but  even  then 
Blowes  still  contended  that  no  evil  had  been  committed.  The 
brethren  at  length  convinced  him  that  he  had  really  been  guilty 
of  "  great  evil,"  extorted  a  confession  from  him  of  his  sin,  and 
a  promise  to  abstain  from  the  like  for  the  time  to  come."  This 
did  not  end  the  subject.  "  Some  debate  was  had  about  the 
matter,"  and  the  brethren  resolved,  "  that  seeing  he  had,  first, 

s2 


260  BYE-PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

dishonoured  the  Lord ;  secondly,  grieved  the  people  of  God  ; 
thirdly,  given  great  occasion  to  the  adversaries  to  speak  re- 
proachfully, he  should  not  be  suffered  to  preach,  until  further 
fruits  meet  for  repentance  did  appear."  "Whether  they  "  did 
appear  "  we  are  not  told. 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1745,  the  Broadmead  church  formally 
declared  "playing  at  cards  to  be  sinful,  and  not  to  be  allowed 
in  any  member  of  this  churchVithout  censure."  "  The  sisters," 
we  are  told,  "  concurred  with  the  brethren."  The  General 
Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  in  1711  had  these  two 
questions  put  to  it  by  the  Lincolnshire  churches:  "Whether 
playing  at  cards,  and  earnestly  contending  for  the  same  in 
Christian  families,  be  a  sufficient  cause  to  deny  such  com- 
munion with  the  church  to  whom  they  belong  ?  2.  Whether 
a  pastor  who  contends  for  dancing  and  cockfighting,  with  many 
other  vices,  although  being  moderately  used,  be  a  sufficient 
cause  for  the  church  to  ^deprive  him  of  communion?"  The 
answer  given  to  the  first  question  was,  that  if  the  card  playing 
were  "  in  opposition  and  in  contempt  of  all  Christian  counsel 
and  advice,"  it  was  "  unbecoming  ;  "  that  the  card-playing  was 
"unlawful  for  such  as  profess  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  and  unfits 
for  communion."  The  second  question  was  thus  answered: 
"That  for  a  minister  of  Christ  to  countenance,  encourage,  or 
contend  for  such  vices,  do  disqualify  him  for  the  ministerial 
office  and  church  communion,  until  he  shall  appear  of  another 
mind,  and  give  satisfaction  to  the  church  of  which  he  is 
pastor."  * 

Dress. 

The  love  for  "flaunting  apparel"  was  evidently  not  con- 
fined to  Mr.  Ingello,  for  the  question  of  dress  frequently  occu- 
pied the  attention  of  "  the  serious,  lively,  and  watchful,"  of 
other  churches  than  that  of  Broadmead.  In  1671  Grantham 
wrote,  "  The  doctrine  of  our  church  about  apparel  is  this :  that 
*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  toL  i.,  p.  41. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  261 

the  adorning  of  Christians  ought  not  to  be  that  of  plaiting  the 
hair,  wearing  gold,  and  costly  array,  with  rings  and  toys,  as 
the  humour  of  phantastick  persons  in  city  or  country  commonly 
leads  them.  But  that  instead  thereof,  moderation,  modesty, 
and  yet  decency,  according  to  the  state  and  condition  of  persons 
respectively,  should  be  observed  on  all  sides,  that  so  Chris- 
tians might  be  examples  to  others,  even  in  these  matters.  And 
what,  though  some  person  or  persons  in  the  church  be  more 
than  ordinary  set  against  the  vain  fashions  of  our  day  [it  was 
the  '  day '  when  lace  cuffs  and  collars  were  worn  by  men],  and 
sometimes  lets  their  zeal  go  too  far,  is  this  so  offensive  to  our 
brethren  that  they  can  no  way  bear  this  without  such  a  public 
reprehension  ?  I  fear,  in  so  doing,  they  may  have  done  the 
church  some  disservice  than  those  whom  they  inveigh  against. 
.  .  .  What  the  Searchers  should  mean  about  these  matters  being 
made  essentials  of  communion,  I  cannot  imagine,  unless  they 
would  have  us  suffer  men  to  sin  in  these  cases  without  being 
called  upon  to  reform ;  and  in  case  of  obstinacy,  to  be  with- 
drawn from  the  church,  as  disorderly  persons,  that  they  may 
learn  to  be  ashamed  (yet  we  mean  not  that  they  should  be 
accounted  as  enemies,  but  admonished  as  brethren).  And 
surely,  if  this  be  their  meaning,  that  offenders  in  these  cases 
must  be  let  alone  in  their  sins,  we  should  in  so  doing  loose  the 
order,  and  in  time,  the  essence  of  the  churches.  For,  suppose 
now,  a  gallant  of  the  times  should  desire  to  be  baptized,  and  to 
walk  in  communion  with  the  Searchers,  only  he  tells  them  they 
must  give  him  leave  to  marry  out  of  the  church,  and  allow  him 
liberty  to  transgress  the  Apostolic  decrees,  in  eating  bread  and 
things  strangled,  and  meats  offered  to  idols  ;  and  therewithal  he 
may  wear  gold,  and  tread  in  the  steps  of  the  gallants  in  the 
matter  of  apparel,  &c. ;  would  the  Searchers,  now,  admit  such  a 
person  to  their  communion  ?  If  not,  then  they  make  these 
things  as  necessary  for  communion  as  we  do."  ■■'- 

One  of  the  questions  put  to  the  first  General  Assembly  of 
*  A  Sigh  for  Fence.    By  T.  Grantham  (London,  1671),  pp.  102,  103. 


262  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  Particular  Baptist  Churches  in  16S9,  was  this:  "  Whether 
it  were  uot  necessary  to  take  note  of  those  excesses  that  were 
found  in  their  members,  men  and  women,  with  respect  to  their 
apparel?"  The  Assembly  answered  in  the  affirmative.  This 
is  their  sober  reply :  "  It  is  a  shame  for  men  to  wear  long  hair, 
or  long  periwigs,  and  especially  ministers  (1  Cor.  xi.  14),  or 
strange  apparel  (Zeph.  i.  8).  That  the  Lord  reproves  the 
daughters  of  Zion  for  their  bravery,  haughtiness,  and  pride  of 
their  attire,  walking  with  stretched-out  necks,  wanton  eyes, 
mincing  as  they  go  (Isa.  iii.  16),  as  if  they  affected  tallness,  as 
one  observes  of  their  stretched-out  necks  ;  thowjh  some  in  these 
times  seem,  by  their  high  dresses,  to  out-do  them  in  that  respect. 
The  Apostle  Paul  exhorts,  in  1  Tim.  ii.  9,  10,  '  That  women 
adorn  themselves  in  modest  apparel,  with  shamefacedness  and 
sobriety ;  not  with  broidered  hair,  or  gold,  or  pearls,  or  costly 
array ;  but  with  good  works,  as  becometh  women  professing 
godliness.'  And  1  Pet.  iii.  3,  4,  5,  'Whose  adorning,  let  it 
not  be  the  outward  adorning  of  plaiting  the  hair,  and  of  wearing 
of  gold,  or  of  putting  on  of  apparel ;  but  the  ornament  of  a 
meek  and  quiet  spirit,  which  is,  in  the  sight  of  God  of  great 
price.  For  after  this  (fashion,  or)  manner,  in  old  time,  the  holy 
women,  who  trusted  in  God,  adorned  themselves.1  And  there- 
fore we  cannot  but  bewail  it,  with  much  sorrow  of  heart,  that 
those  brethren  and  sisters,  who  have  solemnly  professed  to 
deny  themselves  (Matt.  xvi.  24),  and  who  are  by  profession 
obliged  in  duty  not  to  conform  themselves  to  this  world 
(Rom.  xii.  2),  should  so  much  conform  to  the  fashions  of  this 
world,  and  not  reform  themselves  in  those  inclinations  that 
their  natures  addicted  them  to  in  the  days  of  ignorance 
(1  Pet.  i.  14).  From  these  considerations  we  earnestly  desire 
that  men  and  women  whose  souls  are  committed  to  their 
charge,  may  be  watched  over  in  this  matter,  and  that  care  be 
taken,  and  all  just  and  due  means  used,  for  a  reformation  herein; 
and  that  such  who  are  guilty  of  this  crying  sin  of  pride,  that 
abounds  in  the   churches   as  well  as  in  the   nation,   may  be 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  263 


reproved ;  especially  considering  what  time  and  treasure  are 
foolishly  wasted  in  adorning  the  body,  which  would  be  better 
spent  in  a  careful  endeavour  to  adorn  the  soul ;  and  the  charge 
laid  out  upon  those  superfluities  to  relieve  the  necessities  of 
the  poor  saints,  and  to  promote  the  interest  of  Jesus  Christ. 
And  though  we  deny  not  but  in  some  cases  ornaments  may  be 
allowed,  yet  whatever  ornaments  in  men  or  women  are  incon- 
sistent with  modesty,  gravity,  sobriety,  and  prove  a  scandal  to 
religion,  opening  the  mouths  of  the  ungodly,  ought  to  be  cast 
off,  being  truly  no  ornaments  to  believers,  but  rather  a  defile- 
ment ;  and  that  those  ministers  and  churches  who  do  not  en- 
deavour after  a  reformation  herein,  are  justly  to  be  blamed." 

Whatever  effect  was  produced  by  this  answer  among  the 
Particular  Baptist  Churches  represented  in  their  General 
Assembly,  eight  years  after  this  the  Assembly  of  the  General 
Baptists  declared,  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  Colchester,  con- 
cerning pride  in  men  and  women  in  wearing  periwigs  and  high 
dresses,  "  that  the  ministers  guilty  therein  be  careful  to  reform 
themselves,  and  their  families."*  In  the  same  year  (1697), 
the  church  at  Bessel's  Green,  belonging  to  the  same  community, 
solemnly  resolved,  "  That  all  superfluity  of  apparel  be  laid 
aside,  and  that  there  be  moderation  in  all  things."  That  this 
resolution  might  be  further  strengthened  it  was  also  decided, 
"  That  superfluity  in  apparel  be  publicly  preached  down  in  the 
congregation,  and  that  fathers  and  mothers  of  families  endeavour 
to  suppress  it."  Another  minute,  in  the  same  church  book, 
twelve  months  later,  shows  how  hard  the  society  had  found  it 
to  carry  out  the  earlier  resolutions:  "Agreed:  that  the  soul- 
condemning  sin  of  pride  be  utterly  extirpated  and  rooted  out 
from  among  us,  and  that  all  discriminating  characters  thereof, 
to  wit  superfluity  of  apparel,  &c,  be  utterly  extinguished." 

In  1726,  the  Circular  Letter  of  the  Midland  Association 
earnestly  exhorts  the  members   of  the  several  churches  to  use 

*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptist  Churches  in 
England  from  1689  to  1728.     Vol  L,  p.  12. 


264  BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

great  plainness  of  dress.  "  Beware  of  conforming  to  the 
world's  vain  customs  and  ridiculous  fashions  in  your  apparel, 
behaviour,  and  conduct."  They  are  desired  "  to  give  some 
real  light  in  a  dark  world  ;  but  it  is  suggested  that  the  way  to  do 
it  is  not  to  conform  to  the  world  in  the  matter  of  dress. 


Marrying  out  of  Society. 

Great  stress  was  laid  by  the  early  Baptists  on  what  the 
Quakers  call    "marrying    in  the   society."      Occasionally  the 
people  saved  their  ministers  the  trouble  of  selecting  a  wife,  by 
choosing  one  for  him,   as    in   the    case    of  Mr.   Hazzard,    of 
Bristol.     "  The  good  people  persuade  Mrs.  Kelly"  to  accept 
the  hand  of  this  promising  young  divine.     She  herself,  in  the 
quaint,  puritanical  language  of  the  time  is  described  as  having 
been  "like  a  hee-goat  before  ye  flock,"  "keeping  her  grocer's 
shop  open  on  Christmas-days,  and  sitting  sewing  in  her  shop  in 
ye  midst  of  ye  citty,  in  ye  face  of  ye  sun,  and  in  ye  sight  of  all 
men,  even  in  those  very  days  of  darknesse,  when,  as  it  were, 
all  sorts  of  people  had  a  reverence  of  that  particular  day  above 
all  others."      She  was   "a  gracious  woman,"    "like   a  very 
Deborah,"   "  even  a  mother  in  Israel,"  and  the  first  woman  in 
"the  citty  of  Bristol  that  practised  that  truth  of  ye  Lord  (which 
was  then  hated  and  odious) — separation."     She,  and  others, 
"  met  to  repeat  sermon-notes,  and  keep  prayer-days  together," 
and  in  their  buying  and  selling  did   speake  very  heavenly." 
Nay,    she   had   even, — when  "ye  parson  of  ye  parish"  had 
begun    to    talk   ritualistically,  as   wTe  should  now  say,  assert- 
ing   "that  pictures  and   images    might   be    used, — openly,  in 
ye    presence  of  ye    congregation,  gone  forth  in    ye  midst    of 
his    sermon."     A   woman,  plainly  of  some  force   of  will  and 
self-possession.     Mr.  Hazzard,  it  is  satisfactory  to  know,  "at 
his  importunity,"  no  less  than  that  of  the  people's,  afterwards 
won  the  hand  of  the  grocer's  widow  "  in  ye  High  Street."    She 
proved  an  excellent  wife  ;  and  helped,  with  some  others,  and 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  265 

her  husband,  to  form  the  nucleus  of  what  came  to  be  afterward 
the  Broadmead  church. 

In  March,  1778,  a  "breach  of  promise  "  case  was  brought 
before  the  descendants  of  the  same  people.  "The  church," 
says  the  minute  on  the  subject,  "  being  informed  that  brother 
Jos.  Bird,  sen.,  having  courted  and  engaged  to  marry  our 
sister,  Elizabeth  Bissick,  and  appointed  the  day  for  the 
marriage,  and  promised  to  call  on  her  at  her  mother's  at  ten 
o'clock,  without  any  just  cause  or  reason,  altered  his  mind,  and 
did  not  fulfil  his  engagement,  and  exposed  himself  to  censure, 
and  put  her  to  unnecessary  charge  in  preparing  for  it,  and 
took  her  out  of  a  good  place ;"  (she  was  a  domestic  servant) 
the  church  appointed  brethren  Harris,  Bull,  and  Page,  to  hear 
the  case  from  him,  and  "  to  recommend  his  making  such 
satisfaction  as  they  judged  equitable ;  and  if  he  refused  to  do 
what  appeared  to  be  just,  that  they  should  let  him  know  that 
he  was  suspended  from  the  communion  of  the  church  till  he 
did."  Whether  the  dread  of  the  church's  censure,  or  the 
revival  of  a  former  affection,  had  the  greater  influence  in 
determining  the  issue  is  not  on  record  ;  but  the  church-book 
does  chronicle  the  fact  "  that  Jos.  Bird,  sen.,  was  soon  after 
married  to  Elizabeth  Bissick,  and  so  was  not  suspended." 

Very  frequently,  as  some  of  the  old  church-books  show, 
members  were  reproved  "  for  being  yoked  with  those  not  in 
fellowship  with  us."  Indeed,  so  frequent  had  marriages  of  this 
sort  become  in  Cambridgeshire,  that  a  solemn  meeting  was  held 
on  the  subject  at  Cambridge,  in  1655,  and  the  question 
debated  was  :  "  Whether,  or  no,  it  is  lawful  for  any  member  of 
the  congregation  to  marry  with  anyone  out  of  the  congregation  /" 
Evidently  some  of  the  unmarried  brethren  thought,  if  this 
question  were  answered  in  the  negative,  their  choice  of  suit- 
able or  perhaps  winsome  helpmeets  would  be  sadly  limited ; 
and  it  need  not,  therefore,  awaken  any  surprise  to  learn  that 
"upon  this  subject  there  was  much  debate."  The  custom 
already   acknowledged  was  re-affirmed  ;    marriages   "  without 


266  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  congregation"  were  declared  unlawful;  offenders  against 
this  rule  were  in  future  to  be  sharply  reproved,  "  according  to 
the  rule  of  the  Scriptures,  against  sinners;"  and  those  who 
refused  to  confess  their  error  were  to  be  excommunicated. 

One  sister,  Anne  Pharepoint,  of  Erith,  Huntingdon,  showed 
no  little  acuteness  on  being  reproved  for  breaking  the  estab- 
lished rule.  When  the  messengers  "  desired  to  know  her  mind 
concerning  that  which  was  charged  against  her — namely, 
taking  a  husband  contrary  to  the  mind  of  the  congregation,', 
she  answered  that  she  thought  it  was  no  sin.  "  Indeed,  I  do 
remember,"  said  Anne  Pharepoint,  "  it  was  said  in  the  law  to 
the  children  of  Israel,  that  they  should  not  many  their  daugh- 
ters to  strangers,  for  they  will  turn  away  their  hearts  from  the 
Lord  ;  but  I  have  such  a  husband  as  doth  not  hinder  me." 
This  did  not  satisfy  the  strict  notions  of  the  messengers  ;  and 
one  of  them  therefore  replied,  "  There  was  none  under  the  law 
but  Jews  and  Gentiles.  All  that  were  not  of  Israel  were 
strangers.  There  is  none  but  the  church  and  the  world ;  if 
your  husband  was  not  of  the  church,  he  must  be  of  the  world, 
and  so  a  stranger ;  and  if  a  stranger,  then  he  will  turn  your 
heart  from  the  Lord."  (Deut.  vii.  3.)  Anne  Pharepoint  was 
presently  won  over  to  confess  that  she  had  done  wrong,  that 
she  was  greatly  touched  by  the  "  desire  for  her  welfare,  and 
increase  in  the  knowledge  of  God,"  and  that  she  would  come  to 
the  congregation,  as  they  wished. 

The  same  church,  hearing  of  the  intended  marriage  of 
another  sister,  Jane  Johnson,  with  one  "not  a  member  of  the 
congregation,"  did  their  best,  by  their  messengers,  to  prevent 
it.  Jane  was  "  premonished,"  and  was  "  dehorted  therefrom," 
"  before  there  was  anything  between  them,  save  only  the 
man  had  spoken  to  her  to  that  end."  There  were  several 
witnesses  to  her  promise  "never  to  marry  him  unless  he  altered 
his  mind,  and  embraced  the  truth."  Jane,  however,  "  still 
kept  company  with  the  man."  Again  she  was  "  dehorted 
therefrom,"   and    reminded    of  her  former   promises ;    and  a 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  267 

second  time  she  promised  "  that  she  would  never  match  with 
him  unless  he  should  embrace  the  truth."  The  messenger 
now  "  rested  awhile  in  his  watchfulness."  But  his  suspicions 
being  still  further  aroused,  he  got  two  other  friends  to  go  with 
him,  and  persuade  her  from  her  purpose.  A  third  time  she 
denied  that  "she  had  any  intention  to  match  with  the  man;" 
and  yet  was  shortly  afterwards  married  to  him.  Jane  Johnson 
was  accordingly  "  separated  from  the  congregation." 

Sarah  Browne,  another  sister  of  the  same  church,  "removed 
her  residence  to  Royston,"  in  order  to  marry  "  out  of  the  con- 
gregation." She  was  "reproved  and  admonished,  orderly,  by 
the  brethren  at  Roystone  ;"  but  paying  little  heed  to  their 
rebukes,  one  of  the  Fenstanton  elders,  Edmond  Mayle,  came 
over  and  "  sharply  reproved  her  for  her  evil  intentions."  She 
was  obstinate,  and  refused  his  words,  as  she  had  refused  the 
words  of  the  others.  "  The  brethren  in  and  about  Caxton  and 
Fenstanton  "  then  sent  a  letter  to  "  the  faithful  "  at  Roystone, 
calling  attention  to  Satan's  "  wicked  devices  in  persuading 
many  members  of  the  congregation  to  join  themselves  in  mar- 
riage with  those  that  are  without ;"  and  concluding  with  these 
words:"  "Now,  brethren,  touching  our  sister  Sarai  Browne, 
who,  as  we  do  hear,  persisteth  in  that  abominable  intention, 
notwithstanding  the  reproof  and  admonition  of  the  saints  ;  we 
do  hereby  testify  unto  you,  in  the  presence  of  God,  desiring 
you  to  declare  the  same  to  her,  that  if  she  continueth  in  her 
intentions,  and  doth  not  repent  of  her  evil,  we  shall  not  own 
her  as  a  member  of  the  Church  of  God,  but  look  upon  her  as 
one  justly  separated  from  the  fellowship  of  the  saints." 

The  General  Assembly  of  General  Baptists  in  1689  "  largely 
debated,"  and,  "  as  far  as  they  were  capable,  used  all  en- 
deavours to  find  out  some  larger  bounds  than  their  own  com- 
munity "  for  the  selection  of  their  wives  ;  "but,"  say  they, 
"none  could  be  found,  for  marriage  is  God's  ordinance,  and 
honourable  amongst  all  men.  Yet  God  has  been  pleased,  in 
all  dispensations,  to  prescribe  limits  to  His  Church,  so  as  the 


268  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

persons  to  be  married  cannot  with  safety  go  beyond  the  bounds 
of  that  communion  for  exceeding  those  bounds  ;  and  we  cannot 
find  any  limit  at  all.  And  to  suppose  that  baptized  believers 
have  liberty  to  marry  with  Turks,  Jews,  Infidels,  &c,  &c,  and 
with  all  sorts  of  pretended  Christians  seems  extremely  perilous, 
so  that  it  is  unlawful  for  a  believer  to  marry  with  a  non- 
believer."  "As  for  proceeding  with  persons  so  offending,  it 
was  concluded  to  be  as  aforetime,  only  that,  as  circumstances 
and  necessity  may  alter  cases,  so  the  censures  against  offending 
Christians  herein  should  be  proportioned  or  moderated,  that 
justice  and  mercy  may  meet  together."  This  was  the  beginning 
of  a  relaxation  in  the  severity  of  the  General  Baptist  rule  in 
such  cases.  The  General  Assembly  again  and  again  re-affirmed 
that  marriages  "  out  of  communion  were  disallowed."  But  in 
1744  the  Bessel's-green  church  sent  a  case  to  the  Assembly  on 
the  subject,  which  was  "not  received"  for  public  debate, 
because  it  had  not  "  first  been  submitted  to  the  sister  churches, 
nor  to  any  Association."  Matthew  Kandall  was,  however, 
commissioned  to  reply  to  their  letter  privately  ;  and  as  he  was 
selected  by  the  Assembly  for  this  purpose,  his  letter  may  be 
regarded  as  expressing  the  still  further  relaxation  in  the  general 
discipline  of  such  offenders  then  gaining  ground.  "  It  is 
agreed  on  all  hands,"  says  Mr.  Randall,  "  that  mixed  marriages 
are  not  only  inexpedient,  but  dangerous,  and  sometimes  lead 
to  very  bad  consequences  ;  and  as  such,  are  to  be  prevented, 
as  much  as  may  be,  by  all  seasonable  advice,  watchfulness, 
and  caution.  The  only  difficulty  is,  how  the  church  ought  to 
deal  with  those  members  who,  after  all,  marry  out  of  our 
fellowship.  And  here  I  must  acknowledge  that  there  may  be 
circumstances  full  of  aggravation ;  as  when,  for  instance,  a 
person  who,  through  mere  worldly  interest,  shall  marry  out  of 
the  church,  when  there  are  in  it,  at  the  same  time,  those 
who,  on  all  other  accounts,  are  equally  if  not  more  deserving. 
Bui  to  make  it  a  general  rule  to  suspend  from  communion  all 
without  exception,  is  what  I  could  never  find  defensible  by  the 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  269 

Word  of  God,  or  the  primitive  practice."  Mr.  Randall  then 
quotes  the  expression  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  about 
being  "unequally  yoked  together,"  as  plainly  relating  "to 
joining  with  the  Pagans  in  their  idolatrous  feasts,"  and  declares 
his  opinion  that  "  marrying  only  in  the  Lord"  (1  Cor.  vii.  39) 
"  can  mean  no  more  than  the  profession  of  Christianity,  in 
opposition  to  the  Pagan  unbelievers."  He  then  goes  on  to 
say,  "  that  there  were  three  sorts  and  divisions  .among  the 
Christians,  yet  there  is  nothing  in  Scripture  to  forbid  their 
intermarrying.  In  the  church  at  Corinth  they  were  so  divided 
as  to  communicate  in  parties  ;  some  denied  the  resurrection 
and  overthrew  the  faith  ;  many  Christians  practising  the  legal 
rites  in  conjunction  with  those  of  the  Gospel  .  .  .  while  others  as 
strenuously  asserted  their  freedom  from  the  Mosaic  yoke  of 
bondage."  The  Jews,  also,  were  divided  into  parties  ;  but 
Mr.  Randall  finds  nothing  to  forbid  either  the  Jews  or  the 
Christians  "  from  marrying  into  their  different  sorts."  "  These 
cases,  I  think,  are  nearly  the  same  with  ours  at  present,  and 
seem  to  mitigate  the  hard  thoughts  we  have  been  apt  to  entertain 
of  those  u'Jio  have  transgressed  in  "  the  old  and  more  rigid  rule. 
Nay,  "if  there  should  appear  no  direct  prohibition  of  Chris- 
tians on  their  first  establishment  from  marrying  with  pious 
Jews  who  believed  in  the  true  God,  but  had  not  as  yet 
embraced  the  Gospel,"  their  controversy  was  entirely  at  an 
end. 

Mr.  Randall  goes  even  further  than  this.  He  impugns  the 
wisdom  of  the  early  discipline  of  the  Baptists.  "  It  deserves 
to  be  considered,  whether  suspension  from  communion  for  so 
marrying  was,  in  point  of  prudence,  a  proper  method  to  reclaim 
the  offenders,  or  to  promote  the  Baptist  interest.  There  are 
instances  not  a  few,  of  persons  who,  on  account  of  such 
severity,  have  never  returned  to  communion,  nor  sought  after  it  ; 
while  meek  instruction,  friendship,  and  familiarity  have  often 
brought  over  even  the  adverse  party  to  baptism  and  com- 
munion with  the  church  ;  and  there  are  many  candidates  kept 


270  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

thereby  from  joining  with  -such  churches,  till  they  see  how  Provi- 
dence shall  dispose  of  them." 

He  also  urges  that  the  severity  which  the  Bessel's-green 
church  contends  for  "  is  a  very  great  hardship;"  that  "mar- 
riage has  its  rise  and  expedient  from  our  nature  and  constitu- 
tion. 'Tis  honourable  in  all.  .  .  .  Now  since  in  this  nation 
the  women  are  not  permitted  to  look  out  for  themselves,  and 
when  they  have  no  offers  from  among  the  men  of  their  own 
communitj',  what  must  they  do  ?  Must  they,  on  pain  of  ex- 
communication, refuse  every  sober,  virtuous,  Christianlike 
person,  merely  because  he  has  not  happened  to  he  baptized  by 
immersion  on  jjrofession  of  faith  ?  Is  this  consistent  with 
Christian  charity  and  forbearance  ?  Yea,  as  to  both  sexes, ;' 
Mr.  Randall  says,  with  surprising  naivete,  "  'tis  scarcely 
possible  sometimes  not  to  transgress ;  the  accidental  sight,  or 
conversation  of  strangers,  their  agreeable  mien,  complexion,  or 
deportment  often  create  such  mutual  liking  and  affection  as 
shall  render  marriage  almost  necessary  and  unavoidable. 
When  this  liking  and  affection  are  not  the  motives  to  it,  the 
true  ends  of  marriage  are  seldom  answered ;  the  persons  are 
rarely  happy.  As,  therefore,  the  case  and  circumstances,  the 
opportunities  and  inducements  are  so  very  different,  time  and 
chance  happening  to  all  persons,  so  as  to  render  them  unable 
to  fore-determine  themselves,  I  think  the  case  of  marriage  cannot 
be  brought  under  any  one  strict  invariable  ride  by  the  Christian 
Church."* 

Domestic  Life. 

There  is  a  curious  case  related  in  the  Fenstanton  Record, 
which  strikingly  proves  their  scrupulous  fidelity.  One 
Thomas  Bedford,  "  who  had  been  chosen  a  teacher  by  the 
brethren  at  Streatham,  and  from  thence  removed  his  habitation 
to  Hawson,  whence  he  married  a  wife,"  was  accused,  among 
other  things,  of  beating  his  wife  in  the  open  street,"  When 
*  MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  vol.  ii. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  271 

reproved  for  his  cowardly  and  disgraceful  conduct,  "  lie 
regarded  not  the  words  of  the  messenger,  "  but  stood,  by 
sophistry,  to  maintain  it  to  be  lawful  for  a  man  to  beat  his  wife" 
He  forgot,  however,  to  add  that,  according  to  Blackstone 
(vol.  i.  chap,  xv.,  p.  557),  the  old  English  law  specially  guards 
this  questionable  privilege  of  the  husband  by  describing  the 
correction  he  may  give  her  as  "moderate,"  and  "  to  be  confined 
within  reasonable  bounds.'" 

The  Broadinead  Records  have  also  a  single  entry  of  a  similar 
charge,  although  the  man  did  not  in  this  case  "  stand  by 
sophistry  to  maintain  it  to  be  lawful."  A  whole  year  the 
church  had  waited  patiently  for  some  signs  of  amendment  in 
Thomas  Jacob,  when  "  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  first  month, 
1677,  there  came  late  the  sad  tidings  that  the  said  Thomas 
Jacob,  about  ten  days  since,  was  much  in  drinke,  and  very 
rude,  fighting  in  ye  street,  and  that  he  had  given  his  wife  some 
blows,  and  said  he  would  be  revenged  on  a  man  that  it  seemed 
he  owed  a  grudge  to."  Both  Bedford  and  Jacob  were 
"cast  out." 

It  was  not  at  all  an  unusual  thing  for  churches  to  admonish 
husbands,  if  they  were  thought  to  be  negligent  in  their  duties 
to  their  wives.  In  1663  "John  Christmas,"  a  member  of  the 
General  Baptist  Church,  Warboys,  "for  not  loving  his  wife  as 
he  ought,  and  for  speaking  hateful  and  despising  words  against 
her,  giving  her  occasion  to  depart  from  him  for  his  unkindness, 
after  sundry  admonitions,  was  withdrawn  from."  This  church 
discipline  evidently  helped  to  bring  John  Christmas  to  a  better 
mind ;  since  soon  after  the  record  of  his  exclusion  there  is 
a  second  entry,  which  declares,  "  John  Christmas,  afterwards 
sending  for  Ann  his  wife  again,  and  promising  amendment, 
after  her  coming  back  again,  desired  to  be  a  partaker  of  the 
church  in  holy  duties,  was  again  joined  in  fellowship."  A 
hundred  years  afterward,  the  Broadmead  church  was  informed 
(1765)  "that  brother  Townsend  treated  his  wife  ill." 
Messengers   were   appointed   to   inquire   into   the   report ;  to 


272  BY3-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

admonish  him  for  his  evil  conduct;  and  "to  let  him  know, 
that  unless  he  acknowledged  his  fault,  and  was  penitent  on 
account  of  it,  and  promised  amendment,  he  was  suspended  from 
the  church  till  he  should  give  his  wife  satisfaction."  He  was 
also  "desired  to  attend  the  next  church  meeting;"  which 
desire  he  complied  with.  Some  of  the  statements  about  his 
quarrel  he  denied ;  but  he  admitted  that  he  had  spoken 
passionately,  and  that  his  wife  had  provoked  him.  Townsend 
was  "  exhorted  to  cultivate  a  better  understanding  with  her, 
and  to  live  in  love,  and  in  the  fear  of  God.  The  church  agreed 
that  the  affair  should  remain  as  it  was ;  and,  if  hereafter  he 
should  acknowledge  his  error,  he  should  upon  his  request,  be 
restored  to  his  place."  A  few  months  after  this,  another 
domestic  difference  demanded  attention.  In  this  case 
"brother  Morgan  and  his  wife  were  suspended  from  fellowship 
till  they  should  give  the  church  satisfaction  for  their  evil  con- 
duct." The  messengers  visited  them,  but  "  the  wife  did  not 
discover  so  good  a  spirit  as  they  could  wish ;  and  said,  if  he 
acted  well  towards  her,  she  would  towards  him.'*  The  husband 
owned  his  fault;  "was  sorry  religion  should  suffer  through 
him  ;  and  hoped  that  he  should  be  more  watchful  for  the 
time  to  come."  "Brother  Morgan"  was  restored  to  fellow- 
ship; but  "  sister  Morgan,"  still  showing  an  unwillingness  to 
confess  her  error,  remained  "  suspended." 

It  is  hard,  in  the  following  case,  to  determine  the  exact 
measure  of  guilt  in  either  offender  :  "  1685 :  Edward  Grimes' 
wife,  a  member  of  the  same  church  as  John  Christmas,  for 
going  from  her  husband  from  place  to  place,  and  speaking 
reproachful  words  against  him,  was  admonished  for  it  several 
times.  At  length  she  was  reproved  openly  before  the  church ; 
and  she  set  down  her  resolution  not  to  live  with  him  again, 
although  he  jjromised  to  amend,  and  allow  her  needful  things." 
She  was  at  length  ["  withdrawn  from,"  and  her  husband  was 
reproved,  at  the  same  time,  "for  being  churlish  to  his  wife, 
and  not  allowing  her  needful  things." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  273 


Servants. 

The  servants  in  former  days  were  not  always  models  of  good 
behaviour,  and  so  did  not  escape  church  discipline.  A  minister 
of  a  Baptist  society  in  the  Fen  country  in  1654,  had  to  com- 
plain of  "our  sister,  Elizabeth  Noble,  who  being  lately  my 
servant,  was  at  that  time  altogether  disobedient,  sometimes 
replying  that  she  would  not  do  what  she  was  commanded,  and 
at  other  times,  being  negligent,  left  it  undone.  And  moreover, 
as  an  aggravation  to  her  faults,  she  went  away  out  of  my 
service,  contrary  to  my  will,  and  without  my  knowledge." 
Private  reproof  being  twice  unheeded,  Elizabeth  Noble  was 
publicly  admonished  and  reproved  by  the  whole  congregation. 
Under  this  very  formidable  ordeal  she  repented ;  but  her 
father,  who  was  present,  was  greatly  incensed,  "  broke  out 
into  a  very  great  passion,"  and  even  "  charged  the  minister 
with  partiality."  It  was  now  John  Noble's  turn  to  be  re- 
proved, "  but  he  refused  to  hearken  thereunto,  and  increased 
more  and  more  in  passion."  He  was  calmly  advised  to 
"  withdraw  for  the  present,  and  seek  unto  God  for  wisdom." 
To  this,  he  very  snappishly  replied,  "  that  he  could  that, 
without  the  teaching  of  the  congregation ;  and  so  departed." 
A  second  and  a  third  time  the  angry  father  was  "  reproved 
and  admonished;"  and  at  last,  "  with  much  sorrow  and 
contrition,  he    confessed   his   faults"  and   was   " reconciled." 

Another  servant,  one  Joan  Parker,  who  lived  "  with  our 
sister  Smith,  of  Hollywell,  ran  away  from  her  service,  not 
making  either  her  master  or  dame  acquainted  therewith." 
Thomas  Cox  and  Thomas  Phillips  are  sent  "  sharply  to  reprove 
her  for  it,"  and  to  demand  "  that  she  give  satisfaction  to  her 
master."  The  messengers  purposed  to  go  to  her  father's 
house  "to  speak  with  her;"  but  as  they  were  going  they 
accidentally  heard  that  Joan  was  living  in  service  "  with  the 
miller  at  Pap  worth  St.  Agnes."  Thither  accordingly  the  two 
messengers  go  ;    but  as  they  were   approaching   the   miller's 

T 


274  BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

house,  Joan  "accidentally  espied  them,"  and  "went  out  of 
the  way."  A  second  visit  proved  equally  unsuccessful.  "  They 
found  her  at  home,  but  she  refused  to  speak  with  us,  or  to 
give  any  account  of  her  former  disorder."  The  miller  also, 
"her  master,"  refused  to  permit  the  messengers  to  come  into 
his  house.  "  The  congregation,"  we  are  told,  "  hearing 
this  relation,  adjudged  it  a  heinous  sin  in  her;"  but 
nothing  further  was  then  resolved  concerning  Joan.  At  a 
later  meeting,  refusing  still  to  see  the  messengers,  and  con- 
tinuing to  absent  herself  from  the  congregation,  she  "was 
esteemed  an  excommunicated  person." 

About  twenty-four  years  later  than  this  date,  the  St.  Albans 
church  had  to  deal  with  another  case  of  neglect  of  duty  on  the 
part  of  a  servant:  "Brother  Osman,  recorded  inhabitant  of 
Wheathampstead,  was  by  his  month  of  harvest,  where  he  did 
shamefully,  and  with  others,  betray  his  trust,  left  his  work, 
his  master  not  being  there,  and  went  to  an  ale-house,  where 
he  spent  most  of  the  day  in  sinning  against  God,  and  spending 
his  money,  which  should  relieve  his  family,  in  excessive 
drinking.  He  being  a  servant  at  a  brother's  house,  the  said 
brother  could  not  do  less  than  declare  it  to  the  church,  though 
to  his  great  trouble."  Osman  was  "  withdrawn  from "  by 
the  church ;  but  in  March  of  the  next  year,  he  made  public 
confession  of  his  fall,  and  was  restored. 

Drunkenness. 

It  is  sad  to  find  how  many  were  excluded,  both  from  the 
Broadmead  church  and  other  churches,  for  drunkenness.  For 
example  :  "  Philip  Sciphard,  was  cast  out,  after  divers  times 
dealing  with  (according  to  the  rule  of  the  Lord),  for  his  scan- 
dalous walking  in  excess  of  drinking,  though  he  several  times 
covered,  evaded,  and  justified  himself,  for  want  of  due  proof.  At 
last  (his  sin  that  he  lived  in  found  him  out),  for  it  happened  that 
two  brethren  saw  him  overcome  in  drink."*  This  was  in  1670, 
*  Broadmead  Records,  p.  68. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  275 

when  the  church  was  without  a  pastor,  and  the  "  ruling  elders  did 
yet  carry  on  and  manage  the  church  power,"  of  dealing  with  all 
members  who  walked  irregular  in  their  conversation."  When 
Mr.  Hardcastle  was  minister,  "  brother  Jeremy  Courtnay " 
was  under  the  church's  second  admonition  for  "ye  sinne  of 
drunkenness,  and  yette  againe  guilty."  His  wife  therefore 
suggested  "  that  the  brethren  should  keep  a  day  of  solemn 
fasting  and  prayer  for  him  in  particular;  if  it  might  be  the 
Lord  would  be  intreated  to  cast  out  ye  drunken  devill  out  of 
him,  which  did  overcome  him,  and  carry  him  captive  at  his 
will."  A  fast  day  was  accordingly  kept  at  Jeremy  Courtnay 's 
house.  "  After  one  of  ye  elders  spoke  to  it,  and  a  brother 
prayed,  our  pastor,  brother  Hardcastle,  spake  to  lay  open  his 
sinne,  and  the  evill  thereof.  He  asked  ye  said  brother  Court- 
nay if  he  were  willing  to  part  with  his  sinne  ?  He  answered, 
he  was  willing,  if  he  knew  his  heart.  Then,  after  ye  pastor 
and  some  other  brethren  prayed,  one  of  the  elders  asked  him, 
what  demonstration  would  he  give  ye  brethren  and  sisters  of 
ye  church,  that  he  was  heartily  desirous  and  willing  to  leave 
his  sinne.  Then,  after  pretty  much  adoe  (for  he  would  know 
of  us  what  we  would  have  him  oblige  himself  to,  we  told  him 
we  would  not  lay  any  bond  upon  him  ;  but  if  he  were  reall  in 
his  heart  against  his  sinne,  he  would  take  revenge  upon  him- 
self, and  clear  himself,  as  2  Cor.  vii.  11.  And  having  read 
unto  him  ye  case  and  practise  of  ye  Rechabites,  Jeremy  xxxv. 
2,  &c),  at  last  he  concluded,  and  said,  he  would  refrain  and 
abstain  from  wine  and  strong  liquors  for  a  year.  And  then  we 
finished  the  day  with  prayer  for  him."*  The  end  is  lament- 
able. "  Jeremy  Courtnay,  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  eighth 
month,  1679,  was  cast  out."  One  of  the  ruling  elders, 
brother  Terrill,  by  consent  of  the  whole  congregation  then 
assembled,  pronounced  the  sentence  of  excommunication. 
There  is  a  tone  of  deepest  sadness  in  it.  "In  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,"  said  brother  Terrill,  "  and  the  authority  He 

*  Broadmead  Records,  p.  178. 
T2 


276  BYE. PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

hath  given  to  His  churches,  we  do  declare  that  Jeremy  Court- 
nay,  for  his  sin  of  drunkenness,  of  which  he  stands  convicted, 
and  several  times  thereof  admonished  hy  the  church,  but  not 
reforming,  from  henceforth  be  no  longer  a  member  of  this 
congregation,  but  be  cast  out  into  the  world,  and  no  longer  to 
be  partaker  with  us  in  the  holy  mysteries  of  the  Lord,  nor 
fellowship  with  us,  nor  enjoy  the  priviledges  of  God's  house  : 
and  the  Lord  have  mercy  upon  his  soul." 

A  very  graphic  account  is  given  of  the  method  of  dealing 
with  another  offender,  some  two  j-ears  before.  "  Brother 
Thomas  Jacob  had  declined  in  his  duty,  neglected  ye  as- 
sembling of  himself  with  the  congregation,  only  Lord's  dayes, 
but  very  seldom  on  ye  week-daye  meeting,  or  at  dayes  of 
prayer.  And  also  he  had  been  observed  to  have  drunck 
too  much,  soe  that  he  did  reel,  and  was  drunck  more 
than  twice,  kept  bad  company,  and  proceeded  to  bad  words  in 
his  drink/'  The  first  time  he  was  admonished  by  one  of  the 
members  that  saw  or  heard  of  his  evil.  The  second  time  two 
or  three  other  brethren  were  taken  to  admonish  him  ;  "  and 
att  his  house  in  a  room  by  themselves,  all  that  tyme,  they 
prayed  with  him,  and  he  seemed  to  be  sorry  for  his  evill,  and 
to  repent  of  it  in  words."  A  third  time  he  fell,  "  was  observed 
again  to  be  in  drink,  pretty  late  att  night  att  an  inn."  He  was 
now  summoned  "to  be  at  ye  church  meeting  that  day  s'ennight, 
which  was  also  a  day  of  prayer  upon  an  extraordinary  occasion. 
But  he  came  not."  Two  brethren  were  sent  to  him  there  and 
then,  warning  him  that  if  he  did  not  come,  he  would  be  cast 
out.  "So  he  came.  And  being  present,  in  ye  after  part  of 
ye  day,  after  five  or  six  brethren  had  prayed,  and  some  spake 
short  in  the  interim  of  prayer,  and  when  none  were  there  but 
ye  members  of  ye  congregation,  ye  pastor  calls  for  ye  said 
brother  to  draw  near  the  table."  Thomas  Jacobs  comes  up  to 
the  table,  on  which  are  resting  the  emblems  of  the  Lord's 
Passion.  The  church  is  appealed  to,  "whether  they  did  all 
aizree  that  he  should  have  a  church  admonition  from  them  ? 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  277 

which  they  shew  by  their  silence.  Thomas  Jacobs  was  then 
charged  "  with  neglecting  due  attendance  at  ye  meetings  of  ye 
church,  and  drunkenness.  So  after  ye  charge  aforesaid  laid  to 
him,  ye  pastor  laboured  ye  evill  nature,  danger,  and  conse- 
quence of  ye  sinne  unto  him,  before  all  ye  congregation.  Then 
he  pronounced  ye  sentence  in  ye  names  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  this  congregation,  to  which  all  the  brethren  jmt  off 
their  hats,  ye  sisters  not  to  sitte  but  stand  i^j."  The  admonishing 
having  been  given,  and  Jacobs  having  submitted  to  the  rebuke, 
promising  amendment,  he  was  not  "  cast  out." 

It  is  not  surprising,  when  there  were  cases  of  this  kind 
frequently  occurring,  that  the  church  at  Broadmead  should  "  not 
judge  it  convenient  to  admit  Mrs.  Bevis  "  to  its  communion, 
"  by  reason  of  her  selling  strong  drink ;  "  nor  yet  that  another 
church,  which  had  suffered  quite  as  much  from  the  same  cause, 
"  should  deem  it  right  to  withdraw  from  sister  Searly,  who 
"  sold  strong  water,  and  let  persons  drink  to  excess." 

Money  Matters. 
In  reference  to  money  matters,  and  especially  where  money 
had  been  borrowed,  the  Baptist  churches  showed  a  commendable 
amount  of  strictness.  John  Blowes,  who  was  reproved  "  for 
his  foolish  foot-ball  play,"  had,  as  we  intimated,  been  under 
"  discipline  "  before  on  account  of  his  "  not  paying  money  due 
to  John  Thompson,  Simon  Parratt,  and  Roger  Stampe ;  "  and 
he  was  a  second  time  reproved  "  for  pretending  to  have  given 
satisfaction  "  to  these  brethren  for  the  things  they  had  charged 
against  him,  when  he  had  broken  faith  with  them.  This 
reproof  extorted  a  penitential  letter  from  the  delinquent.  Here 
is  a  copy  of  the  letter  : — 

"  To  brother  Thompson  and  his  wife,  and  to  brother  Parratt,  and  brother  Roger. 

"  Brethren, — These  few  lines  are  to  let  you  understand  that  God  hath 
been  pleased  to  make  me  truly  sensible  of  those  many  evils  which  have  been 
by  me  ungodly  committed,  and  by  you  justly  charged  against  me ;  which 
particulars  are  these :  First,  neglecting  my  calling ;  secondly,  neglecting  to 
pay  the  money  due  to  my  landlady  in  Shad  well ;  thirdly,  neglecting  to  pay 


278  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  money  due  to  you,  and  also  my  breach  of  promise;  fourthly,  my  not 
making  you  acquainted  with  my  departure  from  your  house.  All  which 
particulars  I  humbly  confess,  that  God  may  hare  tin-  glory,  and  that  the 
shame  may  light  upon  me,  to  whom  it  is  due.  So  desiring  you  would  forgive 
me,  and  that  you  would  be  assistant  to  me  with  your  prayers  to  God  for  me. 
that  I  may  not  be  overtaken  in  the  like  temptations, 

"  I  rest,  your  un worthiest  brother, 

-John-  Blowes." 

This  letter  satisfied  the  congregation,  and  the  writer  was 
again  received  "  into  fellowship." 

An  ''admonition"  was  sent,  in  the  year  1679,  by  the 
Broadtnead  church,  to  Sarah  Watkins,  "  a  widdow  woman,  for 
her  scandalous,  walking  disorderly,  not  tending  her  business, 
but  making  it  a  common  practice  to  goe  up  and  downe 
borrowing  money  of  any  whomsoever  she  could,  and  not  en- 
deavouring to  pay  it  again  ;  "  taking,"  in  fact,  "  no  care  therein, 
to  ye  reproach  of  ye  Gospell  and  waves  of  God."  This  had 
been  a  common  practice  of  "  Widdow  Watkins,"  and  had 
occasioned  her  to  be  reproved  "  several  tymes."  She  was,  by 
the  "admonition''  informed,  that  unless  she  reformed,  the 
church  would  be  forced  to  withdraw  from  her.  This  was 
"upon  the  eighteenth  day  of  the  first  month."  In  the  same 
year,  "  on  the  seventh  day  of  the  eighth  month,"  her  case 
came  up  again.  She  had  still  gone  on  with  her  "  disorderly 
and  scandalous  borrowing,  up  and  downe,  of  many  persons." 
"  Of  some  she  got  ten  shillings,  of  some  twenty  shillings  ;  of 
some  more,  some  less,  as  she  could  get  them  to  lend."  She 
was  perpetually  ';  promising  people,  and  not  performing, 
spending  much,  if  not  most  of  her  tyme  in  going  up  and  down  ; 
and  so  did  not  work,  or  but  little,  to  endeavour  honestly  to 
live,  and  eat  her  owne  breade."  Judgment  now  overtook  her. 
"  Ye  church,  after  her  crime  was  declared,  and  proved  to  her 
face  by  divers  of  ye  church,  and  what  they  had  heard  she  had 
so  served  some  not  of  ye  congregation,"  unanimously  consented 
to  the  sentence  of  withdrawal.  "The  ruling  elder,  brother 
Tirrell,"   declared  her  offence ;  solemnly  told  her  that  she  had 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  279 


"  rendered  herself  among  the  wicked  ones  ;  "  reminded  her 
of  the  several  admonitions  she  had  received  ;  and  that  now 
necessity  was  laid  upon  the  church  to  do  its  duty."  Still  "  if 
the  Lord  should  give  her  repentance  of  her  evil,  and  she  should 
reform  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  congregation,"  she  would  again 
be  received  into  full  communion.  Meanwhile,  the  ruling  elder 
passed  this  sentence  upon  her:  "  In  the  name  of  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  by  the  authority  He  hath  given  to  His  church, 
we  do  declare  that  S.  Watkins,  for  her  sin  of  disorderly  walking, 
borrowing  and  not  paying  again,  making  promises  and  not  per- 
forming, and  not  diligently  work,  is  withdrawn  from,  and  no 
longer  has  full  communion  with  this  church,  nor  is  to  be  a 
partaker  with  them  in  the  holy  mysteries  of  the  Lord's  Supper, 
nor  priviledges  of  the  Lord's  house.  And  the  Lord  have  mercy 
on  her  soul."  The  ruling  elder,  thinking  the  expression  "  nor 
priviledges,"  rather  indefinite,  adds  this  explanation  :  "  Nor 
priviledges,  namely,  If  she  doth  come  to  ye  meeting,  not  to  be 
suffered  to  stay  when  any  business  of  ye  church  transacted,  &c." 

Miscellaneous  Charges. 

Many  "  charges"  against  church  members  led  to  their  being 
questioned  before  the  whole  body  of  the  church.  The  Maze  Pond 
Records  frequently  chronicle  cases  of  this  kind  : — "  Not  keep- 
ing a  promise,"  "  not  speaking  the  truth,"  "borrowing  money 
and  making  no  sign  of  paying  it  again,"  "  disorderly  walking," 
"  backbiting,"  "  idleness,"  "  breaking  the  law  that  disciples 
should  only  marry  in  the  Lord,"  "bringing  a  public  charge 
against  a  brother  without  taking  the  gospel  rule  "  (Matt,  xviii. 
15 — 17).  In  the  General  Baptist  churches  these  were  regarded 
as  sufficient  grounds  for  excommunication — "Idleness  in  their 
calling  and  not  providing  necessary  uses,"  "  a  proud  spirit," 
"  lying  and  slandering  their  relations,"  "  covetousness," 
"  vain  talking,"  "  hypocritical  dealing,"  "  being  married  in 
the  national  way"  (that  is,  at  the  parish  church)  "with  com- 
mon prayer  and  all  the  Romish  ceremonies  thereof,"  &c. 


2So  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

It  would  be  wrong  to  suppose  that  this  strictness  of  discip- 
line was  only  maintained  by  the  churches  in  the  Seventeenth 
Century,  as  many  church  books  would  unquestionably  show. 
Let  a  single  instance  suffice.  At  the  centenary  of  a  village 
church  in  the  Midland  counties,  held  at  Whitsuntide,  1870, 
the  pastor  gave  a  brief  summary  of  the  church's  chequered 
history,  and  referred,  among  other  causes  of  exclusion,  to 
these — "  Levity  and  neglect,"  that  is,  of  the  services,  "  pas- 
sion," "  obstinacy  of  temper,"  "  false  pretences,"  "negligence 
and  extravagance,"  "  domestic  quarrels,"  "marrying  a  carnal 
man,"  "  running  away,"  that  is,  deserting  their  customary 
place  of  worship. 

"Itching  ears"  were  not  patiently  tolerated  by  the  earlier 
Baptist  churches.  Listening  to  Quakers,  or  attendance  on 
what  was  described  as  "  the  false  worship  of  the  English 
Church,"  was  often  followed  by  exclusion.  One  General 
Baptist  church  seriously  discussed  the  question  of  occasional 
attendance  at  the  services  of  the  Establishment.  After  a  long 
and  anxious  debate,  the  church  unanimously  agreed  to  a  reso- 
lution which  would  have  delighted  the  founder  of  the  Quakers 
himself — "  That  it  is  unlawful  for  any  members  of  the  congre- 
gation to  hear  the  teachers  of  the  Church  of  England,  except  it 
be  to  reprove  them'.'''  It  was  also  formally  decreed  by  the 
Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  in  1698  that  it  was  "  irre- 
gular "  and  worthy  of  reproof  when  any  of  their  number  wor- 
shipped with  the  Paedobaptists.  The  Minute  is  as  follows  : — 
"  It  is  agreed  that  the  members  of  churches  in  our  communion 
may  not  join  in  the  worship  of  God  with  those  that  are  not. 
And  we  do  advise  all  members  of  the  several  churches  of  our 
communion  to  keep  themselves  pure  in  the  separation ;  and  if 
any  shall  transgress  therein,  we  advise  the  churches  unto  whom 
they  belong  carefully  and  speedily  to  admonish  them  of  the 
evil  and  danger  that  do  attend  it."° 

'   MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General  Assembly,  p.  14. 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  281 


Dr.  Wall's  Commendation. 

We  cannot  close  this  account  of  the  rigorous  discipline  main- 
tained by  the  Baptist  churches  in  the  Seventeenth  and  Eighteenth 
Centuries,  without  quoting  the  opinion  on  this  subject  expressed 
by  Dr.  Wall,  in  his  History  of  Infant  Baptism,  published  in 
1704.      The  testimony  is  the  more  valuable   from  his  well- 
known  dislike  of  Baptists.     "  They  have,"  says  the  Yicar  of 
Shoreham,  "this  way  of  adjusting  differences  that  arise  among 
themselves   on    account  of  trespasses,  dues,  or  other  money 
matters,  which  I  recite  as  being  worthy  of  imitation.     If  any 
one  of  them  does  wrong  another,  or  refuses  to  do,  or  to  pay, 
what  is  equitable  in  any  case ;  if  he  will  not  be  brought  to 
reason  by  a  private  arguing  of  the  matter,  nor  by  the  verdict  of 
two   or  three  neighbours  added,  the  plaintiff  brings  the  case 
before   the    congregation,    when   they,    with   their   elder,    are 
assembled  in  the  nature  of  a  vestry.     And  in  difficult  cases 
there  lies  an  appeal  from  a  particular  congregation,  to  some 
fuller  meeting  of  their  church  under  a  messenger.     And  he  of 
the  two  that  will  not  stand  to  the  ultimate  determination  of  the 
assembly  by  their  usage  appointed,  is  no  longer  acknowledged 
by  the  rest  as  a  brother.     As  this  is  very  much  according  to 
our  Saviour's  (Matt,  xviii.  15,  16,  17)  and  St.  Paul's  direction 
(1  Cor.  vi.  1,  2,  &c.)  in  such  cases,  so  I  have  been  told  that  it 
has  the  good  effect  of  preventing  abundance  of  law  suits  and 
many  quarrels ;  very  few  of  them  offering  to   withstand  the 
general  verdict  and  opinion  of  all  their  brethren.     And  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  but  that  a  like  course  would,  if  it  were  put 
in  practice,  have  a  like  good  effect  among  other  societies  of 
Christians.      The  like   discipline   (of  renouncing  brotherhood) 
they  use  against  such  of  their  communion  as  are  known  to  be 
guilty  of  any  such  immorality  as  is  a  scandal  to  the  Christian 
profession  of  a  sober  and  godly  life ;  for  which  care  of  their 
members  there  is  no  man  but  will  commend  them.     And,  there- 
fore, I  do  not  mention  the  ordering  of  this  as  particular  to 


I 


282 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


them.  All  churches,  by  their  constitution,  do  order  the  same 
thing  to  be  done;"  but,  adds  the  Doctor,  thinking  with  grief 
of  the  Established  Church,  "  the  administration  or  putting 
into  execution  of  this  order  is  in  some  churches  very  slack  and 
negligent ;  and  in  some,  very  much  perverted  by  the  corrupt 
officers  of  the  courts.  The  bishops  visiting  every  parish  in 
particular  (which,  when  it  began  to  be  omitted  by  some  bishops, 
was  so  earnestly  enjoined  by  canons),  is  now  almost  antiquated 
and  forgotten.  And  there  is  many  times  a  very  huddled  work 
made  of  a  visitation.  So  far  as  this  discipline  is  omitted,  or 
perverted,  in  any  church,  so  far  is  that  church  fallen  into 
a  very  dangerous  decay.  Among  all  the  exceptions  made  by 
the  several  sorts  of  Dissenters  against  the  Church  of  England, 
there  is  none  nigh  so  material  as  this ;  nor  is  there  any  neglect 
the  amending  whereof  would,  besides  the  stopping  of  the 
mouths  of  gainsayers,  produce  a  greater  spiritual  advantage  to 
the  people."  Dr.  Wall  thinks,  however,  that  Dissenters  ought 
to  consider  "  that  this  is  much  more  difficult  in  a  National 
Church  than  in  one  of  their  societies.  For  none  side  with 
them  but  what  do  it  out  of  zeal;  whether  it  be  a  true  and 
godly  zeal,  or  an  ignorant  and  factious  one.  Still,  it  is  zeal, 
and  may  be  made  use  of  to  a  vigorous  execution  of  the  orders 
past  among  them.  But  there  is  in  all  nations,  besides  the  zealous 
men,  a  sort  of  flying  squadron  that  have  really  no  concern  at 
all  for  any  religion;  but  being  perfectly  indifferent,  do,  of  course , 
fall  in  with  the  National  Church,  as  being  the  most  fashionable  at 
that  time.  These,  wherever  they  light,  are  a  great  Jiindrance  to 
the  due  execution  af  any  canons  of  discipline.  They  are  either  by 
their  riches  and  power  too  big,  or  else  by  their  numbers  too  many, 
for  the  force  of  law.  The  Dissenters,  notwithstanding  the 
boasts  of  their  exactness  of  discipline,  would  find  themselves 
embarrassed  if  this  were  their  case."  • 

*  The  History  of  Infant  Baptism.     By  W.  Wall,  Vicar  of  Skoreham,  Kent 
(London :  1707),  pp.  453,  454. 


CHAPTER  XL 

CUSTOMS  OF  THE  EARLY  ENGLISH  BAPTISTS. 

MANY  of  the  early  English  Baptists  followed,  with  literal 
exactness,  the  customs  which  they  discovered  from  the 
New  Testament  to  be  in  use  among  the  primitive  Christians. 
There  had  been,  they  contended,  no  formal  apostolic  renun- 
ciation of  these  customs.  They  were  therefore  still  binding 
upon  all  future  churches.  To  omit  careful  obedience  to  them 
was  to  be  guilty  of  neglecting  the  "plain  duty  of  Christians 
revealed  in  God's  Word.     Among  these  they  placed 

The  Imposition  of  Hands. 

The  younger,  or  Calvinistic  body,  as  we  have  already  seen, 
adopted  this  custom  in  the  election  of  their  elders,  or  ministers ; 
but  the  General  Baptists  used  the  same  rite  in  setting  apart  all 
their  deacons,  and  most  of  their  churches  regarded  it  as  equally 
necessary  to  be  observed  in  the  case  of  every  person  baptized. 
Grantham's  Confession  declares,  that  this  last  is  the  "  duty  of 
every  believer  ;  "  that  "  it  is  a  principle  of  Christ's  doctrine;  " 
and  that  the  object  of  it  is,  "  that  the  believers  baptized  may 
receive  the  promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit."  In  proof  of  this,  he 
quotes,  Heb.  vi.  1,  2 ;  Acts  viii.  12,  15,  17 ;  xix.  6  ;  2  Tim.  i.  6. 
His  Primitive  Christianity  contains  an  elaborate  defence  of  the 
same  custom.  "The  papacy,"  he  says,  "  has  greatly  corrupted 
and  abused  it,  by  many  superstitious  adjuncts  of  human  inven- 
tion."    It  has  also  been  "in  a  manner  lost  among  those  who 


2S4  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


call  themselves  the  Reformed  Churches  ;  "  but,  "  in  these  days 
God  hath  begun  to  revive  this  neglected  truth  among  the 
baptized  churches  of  this  nation."  Grantham,  therefore, 
"  lays  down,  and  endeavours  to  make  good,  this  proposition; 
that  as  God  hath  promised  to  give  to  all  that  are  called  of  the 
Lord,  so  He  hath  appointed  a  solemn  way  wherein  His  servants 
and  handmaidens  are  to  wait  upon  Him  for  the  reception 
thereof,  which  way  is, — the  prayers  of  His  church,  performed 
by  His  ministers,  or  pastors,  with  the  laying  on  of  hands,  and 
that  this  is  a  principle  of  Christ's  doctrine  belonging  to  them 
in  the  minority  of  their  Christian  state."  One  section  of  his 
defence  is  devoted  to  showing  that  "  this  promise  belongs  to  all 
Christ's  disciples,  both  male  and  female."  Another  meets  the 
objections  that  may  be  urged  against  it :  (I.)  "  That  if  the  pro- 
mise of  the  Spirit  to  thus  belong  to  the  church,  then  this  will 
follow  :  that  the  doctrines  delivered  by  such  gifted  men  must 
pass  for  oracles  of  truth,  being  delivered  (as  will  be  pretended), 
by  the  Spirit  of  Truth,  whose  property  is,  to  lead  into  all  truth  ; 
and  thus  every  extravagant  and  impertinent  discourse  will  be 
entitled  to  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and  hence,  it  is  conceived  that  the 
decrees  of  synods,  having  (as  they  pretended)  the  Holy  Ghost, 
are  infallible ;  nay,  even  private  writings  will  be  claimed  to 
be  infallible.  (2)  That  this  doctrine,  that  miracles  are  not 
ceased,  is  asserted  by  the  Papists,  and  they  pretend  to  have  had 
them  among  them  in  every  age  ;  and  hence  they  urge,  that  they 
only  are  the  church,  and  their  decrees  infallible,"  &c. 

Grantham  further  contends  that  this  custom  was  of  "  con- 
vincing importance,"  was  for  the  comfort  of  Christians  equally, 
and  of  perpetual  use  in  the  church."  It  is  "part  of  that  form 
of  doctrine  to  which  the  main  body  of  Christian  doctrine  is 
reducible,"  ought  to  be  obeyed  from  the  heart,"  is  "not  to 
be  removed  out  of  its  place,"  being  joined  to  baptism,  and 
follows  next  in  place  to  it.  On  this  account  it  is  "a  very  great 
mistake"  to  regard  it  as  solely  "for  ordination  to  offices,  or 
for  extraordinary  gifts  only,   or  for  healing  the  sick."     It  is, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  285 

moreover,  "  a  mistake  the  grossness  of  which  is  sufficiently 
detected  "  by  Philip's  case,  when  in  Samaria,  to  suppose  that  the 
Apostles  used  imposition  of  hands,  not  by  virtue  of  their  minis- 
terial authority,  but  as  gifted  persons  only. "  It  is  "  very  unadvised 
and  dangerous"  to  affirm  that  the  Apostles  either  had  the  power 
to  bestow  the  gift  of  tongues,  prophecy,  miracle,  &c,  on  whom 
they  laid  their  hands ;  or,  that  all,  by  such  imposition,  received 
extraordinary  gifts.  "It  is  Christ's  peculiar  to  baptize  with 
the  Holy  Ghost,"  and  not  the  Apostles'.  Simon  Magnus's 
"dreadful  error"  was  this,  that  he  supposed  the  Apostles  had  it. 
As  for  the  fact  that  "any  stumble  at  prayer  with  imposition  of 
hands,  because  performed  by  us,"  it  argues  no  great  discretion, 
but  much  weakness.  "  I  marvel  in  my  heart,"  says  Grantham, 
"  how  men  should  think  it  so  great  a  matter  for  a  poor  mes- 
senger or  elder  in  the  present  baptized  churches  to  pray  for 
young  converts,  that  they  may  receive  the  spirit  of  promise,  .  .  . 
and  yet  think  it  no  high,  but  a  necessary  thing  for  the  same  men 
to  impose  their  hands  in  the  ordination  of  all  the  officers  of  the 
church."  As  for  the  demand,  "  What  command  have  you  for 
laying  on  of  hands  ?  "  Grantham  thinks  it  is  answered  by 
retorting,  "  What  [command  have  you  to  impose  hands  upon 
elders  and  deacons  ?  "  The  Apostles  Peter  and  John  practised 
this  custom  upon  the  Samaritans  ;  Paul  "  put  his  hands  upon 
Timotheus,"  and  others;  and  it  is  therefore  not  to  be  conceived 
that  they  did,  at  any  of  these  times,  "  go  preposterously  to  put 
their  hands  upon  the  disciples,  without  telling  them  the  mean- 
ing of  it,  and  what  they  might  expect  at  the  Lord's  hands  in 
that  solemn  service."  And  lastly,  "it  may  conduce  somewhat 
to  the  reputation  of  this  long  neglected  principle  of  Christian 
doctrine,  that  it  is  not  only  found  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  but 
the  ancient  Christians  did  religiously  observe  it." 

The  custom  does  not  appear  to  have  been  adopted  by  all  the 
elders  and  churches  of  the  General  Baptists,  and  more  than  one 
treatise  was  published  in  opposition  to  Grantham's  opinions. 
One  of  these,  entitled  A  Treatise  on  Laying  on  of  Hands,  written 


286  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

by  "Mr.  D."  is  thought  of  sufficient  importance  by  Grantham  to 
deserve  a  very  careful  and  extended  answer.  He  bitterly  com- 
plains, in  this,  that  the  method  of  opposition  adopted  may 
1 'expose  this  principle  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ  to  the  mockage 
of  the  ignorant ; "  and  replies,  first,  to  "Mr.  D.'s  historical  argu- 
ments; and  secondly,  to  his  own  opinion,  in  opposition  to  most 
men  in  sundry  particulars."  There  is  a  good  deal  of  acuteness 
shown  by  Grantham  in  his  method  of  meeting  Mr.  D.'s  quota- 
tions from  the  Fathers,  and,  after  showing  how  entirely  they 
are  on  his  side,  he  says,  speaking  of  the  later  corruptions, 
"  Thus  the  purity  of  the  truth  in  this,  as  in  other  cases,  is 
evidenced  by  those  that  have  not  kept  it  in  the  purity  thereof." 
It  is  "irrational  to  imagine  that  every  institution  of  Christ 
must  be  expressed  in  the  Scripture  with  equal  plainness  ;  for  if 
they  be  but  found  there,  it  is  sufficient."  For  this  particular 
custom  "the  ground  is  eminently  considerable;"  nay  even 
"  very  sound  and  concluding."  It  is  an  ordinance  of  Christ, 
"for  five  causes:  (1)  because  of  prayer,  the  moral  part; 
(2)  because  of  imposition  of  hands,  the  ritual  part ;  (3)  because 
of  the  promise  to  which  it  refers,  as  the  blessing  signified  by 
it ;  (4)  because  it  is  placed  among  the  fundamentals  of  religion, 
or  called  a  principle  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ ;  (5)  because  it 
will  bear  the  denomination  of  an  ordinance,  as  well  as  the  im- 
position of  hands  on  deacons,  or  other  officers  of  Christ's 
church."  The  opponents  of  this  custom,  says  Grantham, 
"  deal  much  after  the  manner  of  the  Quakers  in  their  opposing 
baptism,  hammering  only  upon  the  pratick  part ; "  and  he, 
therefore,  contends  for  the  church's  right  to  it,  to  the  end  of 
time,  since  it  is  associated  with  the  promise  of  the  Spirit. 
"  The  reception  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  not  a  thing  in  our  power, 
but  the  means  to  seek  for  it  is  in  our  power,"  He  ends  by 
declaring,  that  "  though  this  truth  is  as  dear  to  him  as  other 
truths,  and  therefore  he  is  resolved  to  defend  it  with  the  rest, 
yet  he  stands  ready  to  abate  whatsoever,  upon  a  fair  trial,  may 
appear  too  harsh,  or  any  way  justly  offensive." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  287 


The  churches  practising  this  rite  were  described  as  "  churches 
under  imposition  of  hands  ;  "  and  in  their  records,  the  fact  of 
baptism  and  imposition  of  hands  were  duly  chronicled  together. 
There  are  men  still  living,  belonging  to  some  of  the  older 
General  Baptist  churches,  who  were  thus  received  into  fellow- 
ship ;  but,  as  far  as  we  know,  the  custom  has  now  fallen  into 
desuetude. 

Fasting. 

The  Baptist  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  regarded  fasting  as 
"a  religious  duty,"  "  a  solemn  and  Divine  ordinance."  Not, 
said  he,  that  there  were  any  set  times  appointed  for  its 
observance.  That  must  be  determined  "as  occasion  required." 
"The  drift  of  the  apostles,"  said  he,  quoting  Socrates  Scho- 
lasticus,  "was  not  to  lay  down  causes  and  decrees  concerning 
fasts  and  holy  days  ;  but  to  become  unto  us  patterns  of  piety 
and  good  life."  Moreover,  Augustine  had  affirmed  "  that  upon 
what  days  we  must  fast  he  found  not  appointed  by  any  com- 
mandment of  our  Lord  or  His  Apostles."  The  Lenten  fast  of 
the  Papist,  with  its  feeble  imitation  by  the  English  State 
Church,  was  regarded  as  altogether  without  scriptural  warrant. 
Not  so  all  fasting  whatsoever.  Fasting  was  an  "  extraordinary 
duty,"  perhaps,  rather  than  one  to  be  statedly  observed ;  but 
still,  the  Master  and  Lord  fasted;  the  Apostles  imitated  His 
example;  and  they  (the  Baptists),  considered  themselves  as 
manifestly  in  the  right  when  following  in  their  steps. 

There  were  "  national "  fasts,  said  one  of  them;  and  fasts 
that  were  either  "  congregational,"  or  "  particular."  Tena- 
ciously as  one  exponent  of  Baptist  opinions  held  to  congre- 
gational principles,  he  yet  contended,  "that  the  king,  or  chief 
magistrate,  might  enjoin  a  day  of  general  humiliation,  when  the 
judgments  of  God  were  impending,  or  were  actually  inflicted 
upon  a  nation."  The  "  good  example  of  the  Ninevites  "  is 
quoted  in  illustration  of  this,  "  seeing  there  is  no  king  but 
hath  equal  authority  with  the  King  of  Nineveh  in  that  case." 


288  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

As  for  "  congregational  fasts,"  they  might  be  fixed  upon  "  by 
the  pastors  and  leading  men  in  the  churches,  with  the  advice  of 
the  brotherhood,"  supposing  the  churches  should  "  find  cause 
to  humble  themselves  for  any  judgment  which  sin  had  brought 
on  them,  or  for  any  blessing  they  came  short  of,  or  danger 
which  attends  them."  The  church  at  Antioch  kept  a  fast  unto 
the  Lord,  "without  any  intervening  power  of  the  magistrate  ; 
and  there  is  no  reason  why  other  churches  may  not  do  the  like, 
sith  every  church  is  the  most  capable  to  judge  of  the  necessity 
they  have  to  wait  upon  God  in  such  services. "  The  "  parti- 
cular fasts  "  were  private  ;  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of 
individual  Christians,  and  their  families,  "  the  special  direction 
of  our  Saviour  about  them  being  duly  observed."  "  Let  those 
in  authority  look  to  the  first,"  says  an  exponent  of  their  opinions 
at  this  period,  "  and  call  their  subjects  thereto.  Let  Christ's 
ministers  look  to  the  second,  and  stir  up  the  churches  to  this 
religious  duty.  Let  every  Christian  look  to  the  third,  espe- 
cially masters  of  Christian  families  ;  and  as  occasion  requires, 
devote  themselves  to  this  holy  exercise." 

"Particular  fasts  "  were  to  be  held  "  on  account  of  our  im- 
perfections ;  "  as  shown  by  the  examples  of  David  and  Paul. 
Hence,  Marlorat  defines  this  kind  of  fasting  as  "a  measurable, 
castigation  or  chastising  of  the  body,  and  a  certain  discipline, 
always  used  of  the  saints  of  God  to  this  end,  that  the  substance 
of  heavenly  things  might  be  more  amiable,  and  the  desires  of 
the  body  more  quenched."  But  Basil,  referring  to  the  spiritual 
part  says,  "  True  fasting  standeth  in  a  departure  from  vices,  in 
the  right  government  of  the  tongue,  in  suppressing  wrath,  in 
cutting  off  concupiscence,  backbiting,  malice,  and  perjuries." 
"  The  true  definition  of  this  duty,"  says  the  writer,  who  quotes 
with  approval  these  passages,  "  is,  a  beating  down  of  the  body, 
that  we  may  fly  from  sin,  and  with  more  feeling  taste  the 
heavenly  doctrine  of  godliness."  Men  did  fast,  in  the  ancient 
time,  "  for  deliverance  from  enemies ;  "  but  the  chief  cause  for 
fasting,  "  that  which  gives  being  to  all  the  rest,"  was  sin  ;  in 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  289 

others,  or  in  ourselves.     "  It  is,  moreover,  the  way  to  fit  men 
for  mercies,  blessings,  and  favours  to  be  desired." 

When  "  congregational"  fasts  were  decided  upon,  it  was 
customary  to  state  precisely  their  object.  The  Broadmead 
church  among  the  Calvinistic  Baptists,  and  the  Fenstanton 
church  among  the  General  Baptists,  set  apart  particular  days 
for  fasting  and  prayer  when  their  elders,  or  ministers  and 
deacons  were  elected ;  and  nothing  is  more  common,  in  the 
Records  of  both  churches,  than  entries  to  that  effect.  The 
church  of  Amersham,  to  take  another  example,  decided  to 
hold  a  fast  in  1676,  and  thus  announced  beforehand  the  reasons 
for  its  being  kept :  "  (1)  That  the  Lord  would  be  pleased  to 
humble  us  under  a  sense  of  our  brother  Kudrup's  miscarriage, 
and  that  we  may  be  more  watchful  for  the  future.  (2)  To 
bewail  divisions  that  are  among  God's  people  ;  and  to  seek  for 
a  spirit  of  love,  unity,  illumination,  and  obedience.  (3)  To 
pray  that  the  Lord  would  be  pleased  to  continue  a  seasonable 
harvest.  (4)  To  entreat  Him  to  prevent  all  wicked  designs 
which  the  enemies  of  the  truth  are  devising  against  those  that 
fear  the  Lord.  (5)  To  beseech  Him  to  support  our  sister 
Child  under  her  heavy  trials.  (6)  To  beg  that  He  would 
sanctify  the  affliction  that  is  on  Mary  Hall,  and  give  His 
blessing  on  her  going  to  the  bath  for  her  recovery." 

This  selection  of  some  special  case  as  the  object  of  humilia- 
tion, fasting,  and  prayer,  was  by  no  means  unusual.  Five-and- 
twenty  years  before  the  date  just  given,  a  General  Baptist 
Church  in  Cambridgeshire  was  informed  "  that  Mary  Cox  was 
greatly  afflicted  with  heavy  temptation ;  and  it  was  desired,  by 
herself  and  her  parents,  that  a  day  should  be  set  apart  by 
fasting  to  seek  the  Lord  on  her  behalf:  which,"  says  the 
church  record,  "  was  consented  unto."  A  similar  instance  is 
chronicled  in  the  Fair  Street  church-book.  "  Nov.  1,  1697  : 
whereas,  it  was  requested  by  sister  Wood,  whose  daughter 
lies  in  a  deplorable  condition,  that  we  keep  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  to  God ;  we  agree,  that  Friday  next  be  kept,  at 

u 


?.go  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

her   house,   from  eight  in  the   morning  till  four  in  the  after- 
noon." 

There  is  a  case  mentioned  in  the  Broadmsad  Records,  of  the 
whole  church  fasting  and  praying  on  a  particular  day  formerly 
set  apart,  on  behalf  of  "the  daughter  of  sister  Tylly,  one  of 
the  members  of  the  congregation."  The  child  was  "  bewitched, 
(as  termed  ;)  was  very  much  changed,  and  had  strange  fitts,  and 
as  it  were  haunted  by  an  evil  spirit,  and  would  say  that  such 
a  woman  was  in  the  room.  .  .  .  When  they  conveyed  her  to 
Bath,  the  whole  church  put  apart  a  day  for  it,  to  seek  the  Lord 
by  fasting  and  prayer,  when  bro.  Jessey  was  here,  and  the 
child  was  restored  as  well  as  before,  and  to  this  day.  Ye  glory 
only  be  given  to  our  God."° 

General  fasts  were  often  appointed  by  the  Local  Associations 
or  General  Assemblies.  The  General  Assembly  of  General 
Baptists  in  1711,  appointed  the  20th  of  June  as  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer,  "  to  humble  themselves  before  Almighty 
God  for  their  sins  and  great  decay  in  religion  ;  to  seek  the 
Lord  for  grace  to  be  quickened  and  renewed  therein,  and  also 
for  national  calamities  ;  "  and  in  1714  the  same  body  appointed 
"  a  quarterly  fast  to  be  kept  for  one  year  on  the  Wednesday 
after  every  quarter-day."  The  Midland  Association,  in  1726, 
was  only  following  a  common  custom  when  it  recommended 
four  days  of  fasting  and  prayer  "to  be  kept  by  the  churches 
between  that  meeting  and  the  next,  in  order  that  it  may  have 
power  from  heaven." 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these  fast  days  among 
the  early  Baptists  were  not  rigidly  kept.  They  sometimes 
complained  that  "men  did  this  service  by  the  half  part, 
which  they  called  forty  days  fasting,  or  Lent."  In  that 
period  some  do  abstain  from  every  living  creature  ;  and  others, 
of  all  living  creatures,  feed  only  upon  fish.  Others,  together 
with  fish,  feed  on  the  fowls  of  the  air.  Others  eat  neither 
nuts,  apples,  neither  any  other  kind  of  fruit,  nor  eggs.  Some 
*  Broadmead  Records  (Rev.  N.  Haycroft),  p.  is7. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  291 

feed  only  upon  dry  bread ;  some  others  receive  not  that." 
Among  the  last  were  the  Baptists.  "Although  the  kingdom 
of  God  standeth  not,"  said  the  advocate  already  quoted,  "in 
meat  and  drink,  but  in  righteousness,  &c,  yet  God  is  well 
pleased  that  His  servants  deny  themselves  in  that  respect. 
True  fasting,  if  for  a  day,  or  for  a  short  space  of  time,  is  not 
from  some  kinds  of  food  only,  but  a  total  forbearance  from  all 
nutriment,  except  necessity  require  an  indulgence."  The  vain 
pretence  of  fasting,  rebuked  by  Jerome,  is  held  up  as  a  warning. 
"  What  profit,"  said  Jerome,  "  not  to  eat  of  the  oil,  and  to  seek 
certain  dainties  and  difficult  kind  of  meats  ?  as  figs,  pears,  nuts, 
fruits  of  palms  or  dates,  the  flower  of  wheat,  of  honey,  and 
such  kind  of  meats.  There  is  no  kind  of  garden  fruit  where- 
with we  do  not  torment  ourselves,  to  the  end  we  eat  not 
bread.  And  whilst  we  do  follow  pleasures,  we  are  drawn  from 
the  King  of  Heaven.  Further,  I  have  heard  that  some,  who 
against  the  rule  of  nature  drink  no  water,  and  eat  no  bread, 
but  do  eat  of  delicate  suppings  and  of  panned  leeks.  "What  a 
a  shame  is  this  !  How  are  we  not  ashamed  of  such  follies  ? 
How  are  we  not  wearied  of  such  superstitions  ?  Do  we  seek 
in  delicates  the  savour  of  abstinence  ?  "  After  quoting  this 
passage,  the  Baptist  advocate  of  fasting  urges  his  brethren  "to 
avoid  the  vanities  of  the  Papists  and  others,  and  to  study  the 
simplicity  of  the  service,  and  the  holy  ends  thereof."  * 

Washing  the  Feet  of  the  Saints. 

Smyth  mentions  this  custom,  in  his  Confession,  as  one  of  the 
duties  belonging  to  the  office  of  deacon.  Many  of  the  General 
Baptist  churches,  in  the  time  of  the  Civil  War,  began  to  revive 
the  practice,  and  taught  that  it  was  binding  on  all  Christ's 
followers,  and  should  be  conscientiously  practised  as  a  religious 
ordinance.     A  warm  debate  upon  its  observance  arose  among 

*   Grantham's     "  Ckrisiianismus   Primitivus, — Of   Church    Discipline,"    pp. 
144—149. 

u2 


292  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  Lincolnshire  churches  during  the  Protectorate ;  and  one 
minister,  Robert  Wright,  of  Helpstone,  tried  hard  to  make  its 
acceptance  a  condition  of  church  fellowship.  He  withdrew 
from  the  church,  with  those  who  sympathised  with  him,  and 
established  a  small  community  in  which  this  custom  was  ob- 
served. There  were  but  few  General  Baptist  churches  who 
continued  to  practise  it  after  the  Restoration,  and  these  were 
chiefly  in  Kent.  The  founder  of  one  of  these,  William  Jeffery, 
pleads  for  it,  in  1659,  as  "  commanded  and  blessed  by  Jesus 
Christ,"  as  "  setting  forth  Christ's  humility,"  "declaring  that 
the  ways  of  Christ  are  self-denying  ways,"  as  "being  a  self- 
denying  practice,  and,  therefore,  serving  to  humble  the  crea- 
ture;" and,  "when  performed  decently,  and  in  order,  tending 
to  produce  affection  among  the  brethren."*  But  these  reasons 
did  not  long  satisfy  some  of  his  successors.  At  the  close  of 
the  Seventeenth  Century,  the  church  of  Bessel's  Green,  over 
which  he  had  been  pastor,  adopted  this  liberal  resolution  :  "  As 
touching  washing  of  feet,  it  was  agreed  ;  that  those  amongst  us 
that  see  it  a  duty  should  be  found  in  the  practice  of  it ;  and 
those  who  cannot  see  it  to  be  their  duty  should  not  withdraw 
their  affection  in  the  least  from  those  who  do ;  nor  those  who 
do  from  those  who  do  not ;  but  all  maintain  an  equal  respect 
for  each  other." 

In  1682  the  Broaclmead  Records  tell  us  "  that  on  Friday, 
ye  seventh  April,  brother  Whinnell,  being  a  member  nowhere, 
because  ye  church  to  which  he  last  belonged  was  dissolved, 
declared  ye  work  of  God  upon  his  soul,  and  professing  to 
believe  in  ye  principles  of  ye  Bajrtist  Confession,  1667,  and  to 
be  against  free  will,  which  was  held  by  ye  church  to  which  he 
had  belonged,  and  also  saying  washing  feet  was  not  to  his  judg- 
ment, he  was  received  into  fellowship." 

There  is  no   account  preserved   of  the  time  at  which  the 
custom  of  "washing  feet"  was  observed;    but  from  several 
entries  in  old  church  records  it  is  fair  to  suppose  that  its  use 
*  Jeffery's   Whole  Faith  of  Man,  p.  102. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  293 

was  rather  occasional  than  regular,  each  church  determining 
when  the  ceremony  should  be  performed. 

Anointing  the  Sick. 

This  rite  was  very  generally  practised  and  long  retained  by 
the  General  Baptists.  They  grounded  their  observance  of  it 
on  the  words  of  James  (v.  14,  15),  "  Is  any  sick  among  you? 
Let  him  call  for  the  elders  of  the  church,  and  let  them  pray 
over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord ;  and 
the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick  ;  and  the  Lord  shall  raise 
him  up."  It  was  regarded  as  the  peculiar  privilege  of  God's 
children  in  all  ages.  Various  conditions  were,  however,  set 
down  by  the  General  Baptists  as  absolutely  necessary.  The 
sick  person  should  be  an  approved  member  of  the  church.  He 
should  himself  be  convinced  of  the  Divine  appointment  of  the 
rite.  He  should  express  his  own  ardent  desire  to  enjoy  its 
benefit.  The  anointers  were  to  be  equally  persuaded  of  its 
propriety  and  efficacy.  It  must  be  the  work  of  two  or  more 
ministers,  since  elders  were  originally  enjoined  to  be  its  ad- 
ministrators ;  and  it  was  long  regarded  as  irregular  for  one 
minister  to  act  alone.  The  Biddenden  church,  in  Kent,  divided 
on  this  point,  part  holding  with  the  literal  meaning  of  the 
Apostle's  words,  and  part  regarding  it  as  a  matter  of  little 
moment.  It  was  not  until  1701  that  the  Lincolnshire  Associa- 
tion of  General  Baptist  churches  determined  that,  in  cases  of 
extreme  urgency,  the  rite  was  one  that  a  single  elder  might 
administer. 

There  is  little  doubt  of  the  truth  of  the  following  instance  of 
the  use  of  this  rite.  It  is  given  by  the  scurrilous  Edwards,  in 
his  Gangrcena, from  a  letter  written  in  1645,  "by,"  says  Edwards, 
in  the  postscript,  "  a  person  religious,  and  cordially  affected  to 
the  Parliament."  "  One  thing  more  (and  it  is  most  of  all  con- 
siderable) of  Kiffin's  new  found  light,  so  called,  which  I  had 
from  some  eye  and  ear  witnesses  of  his  members,  who  were 
present  at  Kiffin's  and  Patient's  visitation  of  one  of  their  mem- 


294  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

bers,  whose  name  is  Palmer,  living  in  Smithfield,  and  laying 
hands  on  her,  did  also  anoint  her  with  oyle ;  the  woman  re- 
covering, came  into  their  conventicle  house,  and  there  before 
many  people  said,  that  physitians  left  her  as  they  found  her, 
but  brother  Kiffin  and  Patient  anointing  her,  she  suddenly 
recovered,  for  which  in  that  place  she  desired  thanks  might  be 
put  up,  which  Kiffin  did  also  relate,  and  did,  according  to  the 
woman's  desire  (return  thanks).  Many  such  heathenish  and 
atheisticale  passages,  which  baseness  I  could  relate  of  this  man, 
and  some  of  his  members,  and  some  others ;  but  it  would  too 
much  intrench  upon  your  modesty  (?)  and  your  patience."* 

There  is  a  very  remarkable  incident  mentioned  in  The  Life 
and  Death  of  Hanserd  Knolhjs  of  that  devout  and  godly  man 
praying  for  the  life  "  of  a  very  religious  widow,"  at  Humber- 
stone,  near  Leicester,  at  the  time  he  held  the  living  in  that 
village  ;  but  in  this  case  there  was  "  the  prayer  of  faith  "  with- 
out the"  anointing  with  oil.  The  good  woman  had  been  left 
for  dead,  and  had  lain  speechless  for  two  or  three  days.  Her 
friends  were  hourly  expecting  her  death.  "  I  had,"  says 
Hanserd  Knollys,  "  brought  some  of  my  books  to  her  house, 
and  was  studying  her  funeral  sermon  ;  and  when  I  had  almost 
finished  the  same,  the  devil  set  upon  me  with  a  violent  sugges- 
tion, '  That  the  Scriptures  are  not  the  Word  of  God.'  He  had 
suggested  this  temptation  to  me  divers  times  before,  but  pre- 
vailed not.  Now  the  tempter  assaulted  me  with  this  argument : 
*  Whatever  you  ask  in  the  name  of  Christ,  God  will  do  it ;  but 
that  Scripture  was  not  true ;  and  if  I  would  put  it  now  upon 
trial,  I  should  find  it  not  to  be  true ;  for  if  I  would  ask  the 
woman's  life  in  the  name  of  Christ,  God  will  not  do  it ;  and 
thereby  I  should  know  that  the  Scriptures  are  not  true ;  nor 
are  they  the  Word  of  God,  for  His  Word  is  true/  To  which 
I  answered,  '  Satan,  thou  art  a  Lyar,  a  Deceiver,  a  false 
accuser.  The  Holy  Scriptures  are  the  Word  of  God,  and  the 
Scriptures  of  Truth.  And  seeing  thou  hast  often  tempted  me 
*  Edwards'  "  Gangrsena,"  p.  56.    London,  1646. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  295 

in  this  kind,  and  now  dost  assault  me  again,  that  I  may  for 
ever  silence  thee,  thou  wicked  and  lying  Devil,  I  will  trust  in 
God,  and  act  faith  in  the  name  of  Christ  iD  that  very  word  of 
His  truth  which  thou  hast  now  suggested.  I  will  leave  my 
study,  and  go  and  pray  for  her,  and  believe  that  God  will  hear 
my  prayers  through  the  intercession  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
restore  her  life  and  health,  that  thou  mayest  be  found  a  Lyar.' 
Whereupon  I  went  into  the  parlour,  where  she  lay  speechless, 
without  any  visible  motion,  or  use  of  any  senses,  and  I  locked 
the  door  ;  and  candles  being  in  the  room,  I  kneeled  down  by 
her  bedside,  and  prayed  about  half  an  hour,  using  my  voice. 
And  then  she  began  to  stir,  toss,  and  struggle  so  much,  that  1 
was  constrained  to  stand  up  ;  and  holding  her  in  her  bed,  still 
prayed  over  her.  Satan  then  gave  me  a  great  interruption, 
and  suggested  to  me  that  she  was  a- dying,  and  these  were  the 
pangs  of  death  upon  her.  I,  notwithstanding  this  assault  of 
the  devil,  was  assisted  by  the  Holy  Spirit  to  pray  and  believe 
still ;  and  in  a  short  time  she  lay  very  quietly,  and  I  kneeled 
down  again  and  prayed  fervently ;  and  within  half  an  hour, 
whilst  I  was  yet  praying,  she  said,  '  The  Lord  hath  healed  me. 

I  am  restored  to  health.'  Then  I  returned  praises  to  God,  and 
she  did  joyn  with  me,  lifting  up  her  eyes  and  hands,  still  saying, 

I I  am  healed  ! '  Then  I  rose  up  from  my  knees,  and  asked  her 
how  she  did  ? '  '0  Sir,'  said  she, '  God  hath  heard  your  prayers, 
and  hath  made  me  whole.  Blessed  be  His  holy  name  ! '  Then  I 
unlocked  the  door,  and  some  of  her  kinswomen  and  servants 
being  at  the  door,  came  in  and  asked  me  if  she  were  dead  ;  to 
whom  I  answered,  No.  Then  they  asked  me,  How  she  did  ? 
I  bad  them  go  to  her  and  ask  herself.  She  had  been  speechless 
four  days.  I  told  them  she  could  speak  now  ;  and  as  soon  as 
they  came  to  her  bedside,  she  lifted  up  herself,  and  said,  '  I  am 
well :  the  Lord  hath  heard  prayer,  and  healed  me.  I  am  very 
weak,  and  sore  in  my  bones  ;  but  I  am  in  health.  I  pray  you 
give  me  something  to  eat.'  And  as  soon  as  they  brought  her 
some  broth,  she  sat  up  and  eat  it,  and  took  some  of  her  julep, 


296  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

and  from  that  time  received  strength  ;  and  the  next  day  she 
did  rise  and  walk  with  a  staff;  which  being  heard  of,  many 
godly  ministers  and  Christians  came  to  visit  her,  and  to  know 
the  truth  of  what  was  told  them  touching  her  recovery.  I  told 
them,  it  was  not  anything  in  me,  but  that  it  was  the  Lord  who 
had  done  it  for  His  own  glory,  and  to  silence  Sathan,  who  was 
never  suffered  to  tempt  me  in  that  kind  afterwards.  God 
bruised  Sathan  under  my  feet,  and  my  Lord  Jesus  Christ  made 
a  conquest  of  him,  and  gave  me  the  victory,  and  helped  me  to 
give  Him  the  glory."* 

Mr.  Knollys  also  describes,  with  equal  minuteness,  his  being 
anointed  with  oil  by  two  of  his  most  intimate  friends  and 
fellow  labourers.  We  give  the  story  in  his  own  words : — 
11  May,  1G70  :  had  a  short  and  powerful  distemper  in  the 
bowels.  Xo  tongue  can  express  my  pains.  Two  learned, 
well-practised,  and  judicious  doctors  of  physic,  had  daily 
visited  me.  God  did  not  succeed  their  honest  and  faithful 
endeavours  with  His  blessing.  I  resolved  to  take  no  more 
physick,  but  would  apply  to  that  ordinance  of  God  appointed 
by  Jesus  Christ,  the  Great  Physician  of  value  (James  v.  14 — 19). 
And  I  got  Mr.  Kiffin  and  Mr.  Vavasour  Powell,  who  prayed 
over  me,  and  anointed  me  with  oyl  in  the  name  of  the  Lord. 
And  the  Lord  did  hear  prayer,  and  heal  me.  For  there  were 
very  man}*  godly  ministers  and  gracious  saints  that  prayed  day 
and  night  for  me  (with  submission  to  the  will  of  God),  that  the 
Lord  would  spare  my  life  and  heal  me,  and  make  me  more 
useful  and  serviceable  to  the  Lord,  to  the  church,  and  to  the 
saints,  whose  prayers  God  had  heard,  and  as  an  answer  to  their 
prayer,  I  was  perfectly  healed,  but  remained  weak  long  after." 

Grantham  does  not  mention,  like  Hanserd  Knollys,  any 
special   cases   of  the   use   of  this  rite  ;  but  in  his  chapter  on 

*  '•  The  life  and  death  of  that  old  disciple  of  Jam  Christ,  and  Eminent  Mi 
of  th-  \  Hanserd  Knollys,  tcho  dyed  in  the  ninety-third  year 

Written  with  Lis  own  hand  to  the  year  1672,  and  continued  in  general,  in  an 
Epistle,  by  Mr.  William  Kiffin.     London,  16<>2."    Pp.  J-8. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  297 

"  Prayer  and  Laying  on  of  Hands"  he  thus  writes  :  "  The 
gift  of  healing  is  not  wholly  taken  away,  if  we  dare  believe 
our  eyes,  or  the  persons  who  have  been  restored  to  health 
very  suddenly,  at  the  earnest  prayer  of  faithful  men,  and  often- 
times in  the  use  of  that  ordinance,  James  v.  14,  15.  Would 
the  Lord's  people  wisely  and  holily  observed  this  precept,  they 
should  doubtless  see  more  than  they  have  yet  seen  of  His 
power  and  goodness  to  His  church  in  the  use  of  this  ordi- 
nance ;  for  the  precept  being  perpetual,  and  a  gracious  promise 
annexed  thereto,  there  wants  only  judgment  and  faith  on  our 
part  to  render  it  effectual :  for  He  is  faithful  who  hath  pro- 
mised. Howbeit  the  truth  is,  that  miracles  are  rarely  found  ; 
yet  from  what  mine  eyes  have  seen,  and  from  what  I  have 
heard  by  report  from  some,  whom  charity  will  not  suffer  me  to 
think  would  affirm  an  untruth,  I  may  not  say,  as  some,  they 
are  not  at  all  to  be  found.  It  is  enough  to  me,  that  God  hath 
nowhere  said  that  He  will  not  work  with  them  ;  but,  on  the 
contrarj7,  hath  laid  a  bar  against  our  forbidding  them  :  '  Forbid 
not  to  speak  with  tongues.'  And  it  is  considerable,  which  Dr. 
Jeremy  Taylor  observes  out  of  Irenaeus,  '  that  after  the  death 
of  all  the  Apostles  miracles  did  continue  even  till  his  time  ; 
yea,  the  greatest  instance  of  miraculous  power,  et  fraternitare 
scepissine  propter  aliquid  necessarium ,  &c,  when  God  saw  it 
necessary,  and  the  Church  prayed  and  fasted  much,  they  did 
miraculous  things,  even  of  reducing  the  spirit  to  a  dead  man.'  " 
It  was  not  an  unusual  thing  for  Baptists,  in  consequence 
of  their  observing  this  rite,  to  be  charged  with  practising  "  ex- 
treme unction."  As  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century,  Mr.  Eussen  thus  wrote,*  "  Let  us  look  unto  their  end, 
and  bring  them  to  their  grave  ;  there,  like  the  Papists  at  the 
last  hour,  they  use  the  extreme  unction.  Whether,  like  the 
the  Papists,  they  esteem  it  a  sacrament,  I  do  not  find.  I  am 
sure  it  is  both  their  opinion  and  practise  to  some,  though  pro- 

*  Fundamentals  without  a  Foundation ;  or  a   True  Picture  of  the  Anabaptists- 
By  D.  Eussen. 


2gS  BYE- paths  in  baptist  history. 


bably  all  use  it  not.  This  is  grounded  on  James  v.  14,  15; 
Gn  which  they  raise  this  principle,  That  anointing  the  sick  with 
oil  by  the  elders  of  the  church,  praying  over  them  with  laying 
on  of  hands,  is  a  church  ordinance  for  church  members  that 
are  sick,  and  for  their  recovery.''  Joseph  Stennett,  in  his 
reply  to  Russen,  confesses  that  "  some  still  regarded  the 
ordinance  as  obligatory;"  but  adds,  "  When  Mr.  Russen  calls 
it  '  extreme  unction,'  and  says  they  administer  it  ■  at  the  last 
hour  like  the  Papists,'  he  does  them  wrong ;  for  this  is  not 
done  when  they  despair  of  life,  but  for  the  recovery  of  the 
sick,  as  his  own  words  declare.''  Mr.  Stennett  does  not  him- 
self feel  "  satisfied  that  the  obligation  of  the  rule  continues, 
since  miracles  are  not  common  in  the  Christian  Church;"  but 
he  is  nevertheless  of  opinion,  "  unbaptized  Philistine,"  as  Mr. 
Russen  esteems  him,  "  that  there  seems  to  be  more  in  tha* 
text  to  countenance  such  a  practice  than  Mr.  Russen  has  pro- 
duced from  the  whole  Scriptures,  in  favour  of  the  opinions  he 
professedly  defends,  in  his  Fundamentals  without  a  Founda- 
tion ;  or  a  true  Picture  of  the  Anabaptists." 

Casting  Lots. 
It  was  not  uncommon  for  the  General  Baptists  to  elect  their 
deacons  by  lot,  and  occasionally  their  overseers  or  elders.  Two 
instances  of  the  first  are  mentioned  in  the  Fenstanton  Recordsm 
A  day  of  fasting,  in  the  first  case,  was  appointed,  "  on  the 
fifth  day  of  the  seventh  month."  M  First,  prayer  was  made 
to  the  Most  High  God ;  afterwards  a  word  was  spoken  from 
the  Scripture,  touching  the  necessity  of  officers  in  the  church, 
and  the  qualifications  of  them,  and  of  their  respective  duties, 
together  with  the  manner  of  their  election  and  ordination. 
After  which  the  congregation  entered  into  debate,  touching  the 
number  of  officers  that  should  be  chosen."  They  agreed  to 
choose  "  one  elder  ;  four  to  teach  in  the  congregation,  who 
should  not  meddle  with  the  office  of  elder  ;  and  two  deacons." 
Christopher  Marriatt  was  elected  an  elder  ;  and  John  Bio- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  299 


John  Noble,  William  Woodward,  and  Thomas  Phillips,  teachers. 
They  were  severally  asked  whether  they  believed  that  the 
love -feast  ought  to  be  celebrated  before  the  breaking  of  bread, 
whether  they  held  with  imposition  of  hands  upon  every  person 
baptized,  and  whether  they  objected  to  members  of  the  congre- 
gation joining  themselves  in  marriage  with  "  those  that  are 
without;"  and  having  satisfied  the  brethren,  they  were  set 
apart  to  their  offices.  But  there  were  two  deacons  only 
wanted,  and  four  were  nominated.  Each  "gave  full  satisfac- 
tion of  all  those  things  that  were  demanded  of  them,"  and  it 
was  therefore  "  generally  concluded"  that  the  election  of  two 
out  of  the  four  should  be  decided  by  lot.  "Whereupon,  lots 
being  made,  prayer  was  made  to  the  Lord  that  He  would  dis- 
pose of  them  according  to  His  mind.  After  which  the  lots 
were  given  forth.  And  the  lot  fell  upon  Joseph  Gilman  and 
Eobert  Earle.  Whereupon  the  elders  prayed  for  them,  and 
laid  their  hands  on  them.  After  which  they  were  publicly 
declared  to  be  deacons  in  this  congregation.  These  things 
being  finished,  praise  was  solemnly  returned  to  the  Lord ; 
and  so,  the  day  being  spent,  the  assembly  was  (with  great 
joy)  dismissed."* 

The  next  account  of  the  use  of  the  lot  in  the  same  Records 
was  on  the  same  day  that  one  of  the  men  who  was  thus 
elected  a  teacher  absented  himself,  and  was  the  ringleader 
"at  a  foolish  foot-ball  play."  There  were  but  few  people 
present  on  this  occasion  of  the  election  of  one  deacon,  and 
again  four  were  nominated.  The  whole  company  did  not  con- 
sist of  more  than  eight  persons  :  "  Whereupon  it  was  advised, 
for  the  better  satisfaction,  to  cast  lots,  to  know  which"  of  the 
four  nominated  "were  chosen  of  the  Lord.  Whereupon,  five 
lots  were  made,  four  of  which  were  blanks,  and  the  other  not ; 
that  so,  if  it  should  please  God  that  none  should  be  chosen  at 
this  time,  that  then  they  might  have  all  blanks.  Which  being 
done,  prayer  was  made  to  the  Lord  to  order  and  dispose  of 
*  Fenstanton  Records  (Hanserd  Knollys'  Edition),  pp.  189,  190. 


300  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

them  according  to  His  will.  After  which  the  lots  were  given 
forth;  and  the  first  lot  which  was  given  forth  was  the  lot 
which  was  no  blank,  which  fell  upon  William  Yarle,  who  was 
then  received  as  separated  by  the  Lord."  Then  followed  the 
usual  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands,  when  "  praise  was  again 
rendered  to  the  Lord.*'  As  in  the  other  case,  the  whole  day 
was  spent  in  fasting,  and  the  little  assembly  of  eight  persons 
did  not  separate  from  one  another  until  its  close. 

In  1G17  the  Warboys  Church  elected  both  a  deacon  and 
overseer  in  the  same  manner.  The  members  of  this  com- 
munity were  in  the  habit  of  meeting  frequently  with  the 
church  at  Fenstanton  ;  "  but  by]  reason  of  the  great  opposi- 
tion they  had  "  as  they  journeyed  thither,  not  only  from  "  the 
rude  people  "'  of  St.  Ives,  but  also  at  Fenstanton,  they  sought 
the  advice  of  one  of  the  elders  of  the  church  at  the  latter 
place,  and  agreed,  in  accordance  with  his  advice,  ';  to  carry  on 
the  work  of  the  Gospel,  and  administer  the  ordinances  "  among 
themselves.  Hence  this  election  by  lot.  "  The  rest,"  we  are 
told,  "  were  content  therewith,"  when  "  the  lot  fell  on  William 
Dunn  for  an  overseer,  and  John  Richards  for  a  deacon." 

Bampfield  and  his  friends  also  resorted  to  the  trial  by  lot  in 
1682  when  seeking  a  site  for  a  chapel.  Three  eligible  places 
were  offered,  but  not  agreeing  as  to  which  was  best,  "  they 
laid  aside  their  own  prudential  determinings ;  and  after  they 
had  sought  the  Lord  to  choose  for  them,  did  refer  the  deter- 
mining of  it  wholly  unto  Him."  The  lots  were  given  forth  ; 
one  for  each  place,  "  and,"  adds  Bampfield,  "  that  they  might 
not  limit  the  sovereign  will  of  the  Allwise,  a  fourth  blank. 
Having  agreed  upon  one  to  draw  the  lot,  they  all  looked  up  to 
the  God  of  heaven,  expecting  His  allotment.  The  lot,  being 
opened,  spoke  Pinner's  Hall." 

It  would  be  wrong  to  suppose  that  the  Baptists  were  the 
only  persons  who  regarded  with  favour  the  trial  by  lot.  The 
Puritan  minister  of  the  parish  church  at  St.  Ayhow,  who  was 
ejected  in  16G2,  and   died  at   Oundle  in  1679,  left  by  his  will 


BYE-PATHS  IX  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  301 

money  to  be  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  six  Bibles  annually,  "  to 
be  distributed  by  lot,  after  prayer  offered  by  the  communion- 
table in  the  church,  that  God  would  direct  the  lots  to  His 
glory."*  And  still  more  recently,  we  have  heard  of  its  use  by 
the  Independent  Church  at  Dublin  in  1826  in  reference  to  the 
election  of  their  minister.  Two  gentlemen  were  before  them, 
the  Rev.  John  Burnett,  of  Cork,  afterwards  of  Camberwell,  and 
Rev.  William  Urwick,  of  Sligo.  "A  church  meeting  was 
called,  and  it  was  agreed  upon  casting  lots,  after  the  primitive 
fashion  in  the  election  of  an  Apostle.  Prayer  was  offered  that 
God  would  show  which  of  these  two  He  had  chosen,  and  the 
lot  fell  upon  William  Urwick,  who  was  accordingly  invited  to 
come."f 

We  have  also  heard,  within  the  last  few  years,  of  an  appeal 

to  the  lot  in  another  Independent  Church  ;  but  in  this  case  it 

was  used  in  the  election  of  deacons. 

Love  Feasts. 

We  have  just  seen  that  the  elder  and  four  teachers  elected 
by  the  Fenstanton  Church  were  asked,  before  being  set  apart 
to  their  respective  offices,  "  whether  they  believed  that  the 
feast  of  love  ought  to  be  observed  among  the  saints  before 
breaking  of  bread."  There  is  also  an  entry  in  the  Records  of 
the  Warboys  Church  (date  1655),  to  the  effect  "  that  the  order 
of  love  feasts  was  agreed  upon,  to  be  before  the  Lord's  Supper, 
because  the  ancient  churches  did  practise  it,  and  for  unity  of 
other  churches  near  us  ;"  that  is,  to  be  in  harmony  with  other 
communities  of  the  same  faith.  One  Baptist  advocate  of  this 
custom  at  that  period  states  the  following  reasons  for  its 
observance  :  "  First,  for  unity  with  neighbour  churches ; 
secondly,  because  it  is  lawful  to  eat  together;  thirdly,  we  see 
it  convenient  that  they  that  come  from  other  places  should  eat 

*  Poems.    By  E.  Wilde,  D.D.     With  an  historical  and  biographical  preface 
and  notes,  by  John  Hunt.     London,  1871. 
t  Life  and  Letters  of  William  Urwick,  D.D. 


302  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

with  us.  But  it  is  our  liberty  to  break  bread  without  it. 
Fourth  reason,  because  there  is  some  ground  in  the  Scriptures 
for  it,  and  the  Saviour  did  practice."  Edwards  also  speaks  of 
many  sectaries  in  London  observing  love  feasts,  and  thus  states 
the  principle  :  "  That  love  feasts,  or  feasts  of  love  (with  which 
the  Lord's  Supper  is  to  be  administered  also),  is  a  perpetual 
ordinance  of  Christ,  at  which  only  church  members  are  to  be 
present,  and  to  partake."* 

Maintenance  of  the  Poor. 

The  early  Baptists  of  this  country  were  honourably  dis- 
tinguished for  their  care  of  the  poor.  Stress  is  laid  upon  the 
due  observance  of  this  duty  in  their  Confessions.  Smyth 
advocated  having  "all  things  in  common,  in  the  necessity  of 
the  church,  and  the  poor  brethren  ;  nay,  that  one  church  ought 
to  assist  the  other  churches  in  their  wants."  The  London  Con- 
fession does  not  touch  upon  the  subject;  but  Grantham's  Con- 
fession declares :  "  That  the  poor  saints  belonging  to  the 
Church  of  Christ  are  to  be  sufficiently  provided  for  by  the 
churches,  that  they  neither  want  food  nor  raiment,  and  this  by 
a  free  and  voluntary  contribution  (and  not  of  necessity,  or  by 
the  constraint  or  power  of  the  magistrate) ;  and  this  through  the 
free  voluntary  help  of  the  deacons  (called  overseers  of  the  poor). 
...  So  there  is  no  need  in  the  Church  of  Christ  of  a  magisterial 
compulsion  in  this  case,  as  there  is  among  others,  who  being 
constituted  in  a  fleshly  and  generational  way,  are  necessitated 
to  make  use  of  a  carnal  sword,  to  compel  even  a  small,  mean, 
and  short  maintenance  of  their  poor;  whereas  many  other 
members  of  their  churches  can  and  do  part  with  great  and 
lar<*e  sums  of  money  to  maintain  their  vain  fashions,  gold, 
pearls,  and  costly  array,  which  is  expressly  contrary  to  the 
Word  of  God."  The  Orthodox  Creed  is  equally  emphatic  in  its 
enunciation  of  this  duty  :  "  The  Christians  that  have  been 
baptized  into  one  faith,  .  .  .  should  have  fellowship  and  com- 
*  Gangnxna.  p.  32.     London,  164G. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  303 

munion  in  each  others  sufferings,  or  affliction,  for  if  one 
member  suffer  all  are  pained  with  it.  Hence  it  is  also  that 
they  partake  of  each  other's  gifts  in  great  variety,  which  make 
the  harmony  of  dependence  on  each  other,  seeing  a  need  of  every 
member,  for  the  public  use  and  common  profit  of  the  whole,  both 
in  private  as  well  as  in  more  public  and  solemn  worship  of 
God's  house  ;  as  also  an  interest  in  each  other's  goods  and 
possessions,  so  far  as  comports  with  necessity,  according  to  the 
charter  privileges,  or  law  of  their  King ;  and  though  no 
equality  of  property  be  pleaded  for,  yet  the  works  of  charity 
and  mercy  must  be  minded  as  a  duty,  to  lend  to  the  Lord,  and 
pity  and  relieve  the  Lord's  poor,  weekly  laying  out  for  them,  as 
God  hath  prospered  us,  according  to  our  ability,  in  freedom, 
liberality,  and  charity,  according  to  our  brethren's  necessity, 
whether  sick  or  in  prison,  to  visit  and  relieve  them  ;  and  not 
only  within  the  church,  but  to  all  as  we  have  opportunity  and 
ability  to  be  doing  good.'"  Grantham's  opinion  of  the  way  in 
which  the  so-called  deacons  of  the  Established  Churches  neg- 
lected this  duty  of  caring  for  the  poor,  has  already  been  quoted. 
It  would  appear,  from  certain  expressions  used  by  the  same 
writer  •  that  there  was  an  additional  reason  for  this  care  by  the 
Baptists  in  those  days  of  their  poor.  He  speaks  of  "  the  injury 
that  is  offered  to  the  poor,  to  the  law,  and  to  all  good  reason,  in 
that  the  widow  and  fatherless  of  these  that  own  some  truth  of  the 
Gospel,  which  our  nation  hath  not  yet  received,  are  cast  out  of 
their  birth-privileges,  as  if  they  were  not  subjects  of  this  realm, 
when  both  the  law,  and  every  faithful  magistrate  stands  ready 
to  show  them  equal  favour  with  others."  By  whom  they  were 
"  cast  out  from  their  birth-privileges,"  we  are  not  told ;  but 
the  writer  justly  argues  that,  as  they  are  "  bound  to  pay  to 
the  maintenance  of  the  poor  of  the  parish  where  they  live,  if 
they  are  able,"  they  are  fairly  entitled  to  "  receive,  when  not 
able  to  support  themselves." 

*  Grantham:    Christianismus  Pvimitivus,   book  iii.  chap.  x.  sec.   1.  p.  54. 
London:  1678. 


3o4  DYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


But  "  the  men  of  the  Particular  way  "  were  equally  outspoken 
about  the  church's  duty  in  regard  to  the  poor.  They  were  "  to 
relieve  each  other  in  outward  things,  according  to  their  several 
abilities  and  necessities,"  says  the  Assembly's  Confession  ; 
"  nevertheless  their  communion  one  with  another  as  saints 
doth  not  take  away,  or  infringe  the  title  or  propriety  which 
each  man  hath  in  his  goods  and  possessions."  They  had,  long 
before  its  publication,  denned  their  opinions  of  "  propriety  " 
(property),  and  other  matters,  against  the  slanders  of  certain 
enemies  in  the  days  of  the  Civil  War ;  had  shown  that,  while 
it  was  their  duty  to  relieve  the  necessitous,  they  held  no 
communistic  opinions;  and  that  as  "  God  had  built  up  a  wall 
of  separation  between  the  estates  of  men  and  men,"  it  would 
ill  become  them,  as  His  ''professed  servants,  to  endeavour 
to  throw  it  down." 

Even  their  bitterest  opponents  were  compelled  to  speak  in 
terms  of  unstinted  praise  of  their  care  for  the  poor.  "  They 
are  to  be  particularly  commended,"  says  one  of  them,  "  for 
maintaining  their  poor  liberally."  Unhappily  this  writer  mars 
the  grace  of  his  declaration  by  cynically  adding,  "  This  is  the 
way  that  never  fails  to  attract  the  good  will  of  the  multitude, 
and  to  make  proselytes."  * 

The  deacons,  who  had  special  charge  of  the  poor,  sought  out 
the  needy,  and  encouraged  them  to  make  known  their  wants. 
Help  was  given  according  to  the  necessities  of  the  case,  or 
according  to  the  ability  of  the  church.  Occasionally  the  poor 
in  one  church  were  numerous,  and  the  power  to  help  was 
therefore  limited.  In  this  event  the  more  indigent  were 
recommended  to  wealthier  churches,  who  did  not  fail  to 
relieve  them.  The  church  in  White's  Alley  in  1688  gave  one 
poor  sister  six  shillings  weekly,  no  inconsiderable  sum  in  those 
days.  In  the  following  year  there  were  weekly  sums  given  to 
different  poor  members  of  the  same  church,  amounting  in  all 
to  six  times  that  sum.  This  was  exclusive  of  frequent  dona- 
*  Dr.  Wall,  History  of  Infant  Baptism,  p.  430.    Second  Edition.    London,  1707. 


DYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  305 

tions  to  meet  pressing  demands,  such  as  rent,  doctor's  bills,  the 
purchase  of  fuel,  &c.  The  Maze  Pond  church-books  record  the 
fact  ''that  two  sisters  desired  the  church  to  pay  their  house- 
rent,  and  the  church  did  agree  to  pay  brother  Rabbits  fifty- 
two  shillings  a-year  for  a  room  of  his  for  them  to  live  in." 
"  Sister  Whittock"  was  cared  for  by  the  Fenstanton  church  in 
the  same  way.  John  Denne,  in  pleading  for  her,  said,  "  Our 
sister  is  destitute  of  harbour  ;  her  mother  is  sickly,  her  children 
are  small,  and  the  ways  are  dirty,  and  she  is  not  able  to  travel 
from  place  to  place  as  she  hath  been  accustomed  to.  .  .  .  She 
was  at  Roystone,  but  the  town  would  not  suffer  her  to  abide 
there  ;  therefore,  on  the  thirtieth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  my 
father  and  brother  Gilman  brought  her  in  their  cart  from 
thence,  since  which  time  I  have  given  her  harbour.  But 
indeed  this  place  (Caxton  Pastures)  is  not  convenient  for  her, 
because  she  cannot  go  any  whither,  either  for  her  own  relief, 
or  her  children's."  Poor  "  Sister  Whittock,"  said  Henry 
Denne,  "  was  at  Melbourne,  and  the  townsmen  forced  her  to 
depart ;  "  and  the  same  treatment  had  been  received  at  Roys- 
ton.  However,  the  congregation  gave  security  to  the  town 
that  she  should  not  be  chargeable  to  them,  and  three  brethren, 
Edmund  Mayle,  Thomas  Phillips,  and  Robert  Cole,  were 
appointed  "  to  use  their  utmost  endeavours  for  the  providing 
of  a  house  for  her." 

Another  instance  is  that  of  John  Wilson,  of  Great  Eversden. 
A  great  fire  had  suddenly  burnt  down  all  his  barns  and  out- 
houses, with  his  stacks  of  hay  and  corn.  The  estimated  total 
loss  was  about  thirty  pounds  of  the  money  of  the  time  (about 
ninety  pounds).  It  was  agreed  "that  the  churches  be  made 
acquainted  with  his  loss,"  and,  for  "  the  reputation  of 
the  Gospel,"  they  would  not  trouble  any  other  people. 
An  appeal  was  made  to  several  churches ;  but  it  was 
afterward  decided  "to  help  their  brethren  among  them- 
selves," which  was  accordingly  done.  One  of  their  appeals, 
in  this  case,   not  meeting  with  any  response,   the    Roystone 

x 


306  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

people  were  prompted  to  ask  "whether  Anthony  Grey,  of 
Thaxfield,  was  fit  to  bear  the  office  of  elder,"  since  he  was  not 
endued  with  hospitality,"  as  was  shown  by  his  disregard  of 
"  our  brother  Page,  a  poor  man  in  great  want,  and  now  in  the 
case  of  brother  Wilson."  The  Roystone  people  felt  they  had 
a  right  to  complain,  since  "  they  all  in  that  place  (Thraxfield) 
were  rich,"  and  they  yet  held  the  selfish  doctrine  "that  every 
church  ought  to  keep  their  own  poor,  especially  they  which  are 
for  a  supper."* 

Two  other  examples  of  appeal  for  help  may  be  given.  In 
both  cases  the  petitions  are  to  churches  of  which  the  petitioners 
were  not  members.  This  will  explain  the  smallness  of  the  sum 
given  in  one  case,  and  the  caution  which  was  shown  in  the 
other.  "William  Farmer  had  been  imprisoned  for  debt  by  a 
malicious  adversary.  On  his  release  he  agreed  to  pay  his 
exacting  creditor  thirty  pounds ;  but  being  unable  to  fulfil  his 
promise,  he  was  threatened  with  a  second  imprisonment  "to 
the  utter  ruin  of  himself  and  family."  Several  brethren  of  the 
Dallingham  church,  Hunts,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  attested 
by  signature  to  the  truth  of  his  statements.  After  due  investi- 
gation, the  church  to  which  he  appealed,  voted  him  three 
pounds.  The  same  church,  in  what  looks  like  a  still  harder 
case,  did  not  show  an  equal  readiness  to  help.  One  William 
Idson,  of  Witham-on-the-hill,  Lincolnshire,  had  once  been  a 
man  of  good  estate ;  but  through  various  causes  was  now 
"brought  very  low,  having  neither  stock  nor  goods  to  live 
upon."     Moreover,  "  he  and  his  wife,  being  both  ancient  and 

*  "For  a  supper.''''  Some  of  the  General  Baptist  churches,  in  order,  as  they 
deemed  it,  more  exactly  to  follow  the  primitive  model,  took  supper  together 
before  "  the  breaking  of  bread."  But  others,  whilst  recognising  this  as  "  a 
safe  and  blameless  way "'  of  imitating  the  example  of  Christ  and  the  early 
Christian  churches,  rather  pleaded  for  it  on  the  ground  of  its  convenience. 
Many  "  brethren  came  from  far "  to  the  Communion  service ;  and  it  was 
considered  "  very  necessary  that  the  congregation  should  be  refreshed  before 
it  bo  dismissed."  So  wrote  John  Denne  in  1653.  It  was  this  custom  which 
earned  for  them  among  their  enemies  the  absurd  title  of  Legs-of-Mutton- 
BaptUis. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  307 

almost  past  work,  were  unable  to  earn  a  livelihood  without  the 
help  of  others."  Some  suspicious  circumstances  about  the 
application  made  the  church  appealed  to  hesitate  before  taking 
action.  The  letter  was  "  a  general  one."  It  had  been  sent 
il  without  a  messenger."  It  was  dated  some  time  back;  and 
it  did  not  appear  whether  the  Idsons,  "  being  both  ancient"  at 
the  time  this  "  general"  and  doubtful  letter  was  written  were 
now  alive.  If  alive  there  was  still  great  uncertainty  about  their 
present  necessities,  and  as  to  what  amount  had  been  already 
gathered  for  their  relief.  Here  were  surely  reasons  enough 
why  the  church  should  not  be  regarded  as  uncharitable,  be- 
cause they  deemed  it  advisable,  in  face  of  these  facts,  "  to 
waive  the  case  for  the  present." 

The  best  things  get  abused ;  and  the  generous  care  of  the 
early  Baptists  for  their  poor  and  unfortunate  members  forms  no 
exception  to  the  rule.  Unworthy  men  "  made  a  trade  of  seek- 
ing relief;"  became,  in  fact,  professional  religious  beggars,  doing 
thereby  not  a  little  to  freeze  up  the  springs  of  generosity.  The 
churches  were  at  last  compelled  to  protect  themselves  against 
impostors ;  and  among  rules  adopted  for  this  purpose  was  the 
following: — "That  if  our  own  congregation  be  not  able  to 
relieve  those  that  are  in  want  among  us,  but  are  obliged  to  send 
for  help  to  other  congregations,  we  will  not  send  any  person  in 
want,  either  with  or  without  a  letter,  to  gather  their  liberality 
for  himself ;  but  will  send  a  man  that  is  not  in  want,  of  whose 
fidelity  we  have  had  experience,  that  he  may  receive  their 
liberality  and  bring  it  to  the  congregation." 

It  may  be  naturally  asked,  how  were  the  Baptist  churches 
two  centuries  ago  able  to  meet  the  demands  made  upon  them 
for  the  regular  maintenance  of  their  poor,  and  for  the  help  of 
those  who  were  overtaken  by  misfortune  ?  It  is  difficult  to 
answer  that  question.  Occasional  entries  in  old  church-books 
only  reveal  the  church's  treatment  of  isolated,  and,  perhaps, 
exceptional  cases.  The  church-books  containing  the  names  of 
the  pensioners,  and  the  amount  of  their  pensions,  have  been 

x2 


3oS  LYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


lost.  We  can  only,  therefore,  offer  an  approximate  explana- 
tion. That  they  were  familiar  with  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Weekly  Offering  is  attested  by  the  quotation  already  given 
from  the  Orthodox  Creed.  Their  notions  on  the  subject  of 
dress,  and  the  known  plainness  of  their  general  style  of  living 
also  gave  them  the  opportunity,  which  many  must  have  em- 
braced, of  "  laying  by  in  store  "  for  sacred  uses  what  others 
might  foolishly  squander.  Moreover,  it  was  a  standing  rule  in 
most  of  their  churches,  that  all  absent  members  should  send 
their  weekly  contribution  to  the  church's  treasury ;  and  the 
General  Baptists,  therefore,  appear  to  have  anticipated  John 
Wesley  in  their  belief  in  the  power  of  pence  regularly  contri- 
buted. But,  unquestionably,  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  their 
strength  in  this  matter  lay  in  their  intense  spirit  of  religious 
clannishness,  which  both  prompted  and  fed  their  surprising 
and  persistent  liberality.  They  were  not  the  people  to  waste 
naif  the  money  collected  for  the  poor  in  distributing  their 
benefits,  as  some  tell  us  is  the  effect  in  many  places  of  the 
present  Poor-law  of  England ;  but  every  penny  contributed  to 
the  poor  reached  the  poor  at  once. 

There  are  not  many  indications,  in  the  middle  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Century,  that  the  Baptists  had  any  great  need  to  spur 
the  flagging  generosity  of  their  church  members.  It  is  toward 
the  close  of  that  century  that  we  first  meet  with  symptoms  of 
the  decline  of  their  fervour  and  benevolence.  The  General 
Assembly  of  General  Baptists,  if  more  money  were  needed  for 
defraying  the  economical  expenses  of  their  messengers,  or 
apostles,  simply  wrote  to  the  churches  to  say  that  "they  must 
make  their  collections  larger;"  and  the  collections  were  made 
larger  accordingly.  But  by-and-bye,  we  begin  to  find  minutes 
about  "  the  increase  of  covetousness,"  with  severely  worded 
rebukes  thereon;  and  at  last,  one  of  their  public  Associations  is 
compelled  to  say,  in  declining  an  application  to  them  for  help, 
— '•  that  ivoney  is  so  hard  to  come  %."';: 

*  MS.  Minutes  of  the  General  Association. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  3og 

It  must  not  be  overlooked,  however,  that  in  addition  to  the 
weekly  and  monthly  contributions  for  the  poor,  wealthy  mem- 
bers of  Baptist  churches  left  legacies  to  be  devoted  to  the  same 
object.  As  to  the  general  effect  of  these  legacies  on  the 
liberality  of  the  churches  themselves,  there  is  but  one  opinion. 

Marriage  Service. 

The  Puritans  anticipated  the  Baptists  in  their  dislike  of  the 
marriage  service  enjoined  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer.  At 
the  Hampton  Court  Conference  in  1604,  they  objected  to  the 
use  of  the  ring,  and  to  the  familiar  words,  "  With  my  body  I 
thee  worship."  After  a  brief  discussion,  the  Conference  ruled 
that  the  objections  were  frivolous.  They  did  not  seem  frivolous 
to  the  early  Baptists.  "  Why,"  they  asked,  "  should  they 
follow  the  Pagan  custom  of  giving  a  ring  as  a  pledge  of  affec- 
tion ?  "  They  might,  perhaps,  have  never  asked  the  question,  or 
have  thought  otherwise,  if  the  explanation  quoted  with  approval 
by  a  modern  Cambridge  professor  had  only  been  known  to 
them.  "  The  matter  of  the  ring  is  gold,"  says  this  authority, 
"  to  imply  how  noble  and  durable  our  affection  is.  The  form  is 
round;  being  the  properest  figure  to  unite  things  separated,  and 
to  imply  our  respect  shall  never  end.  And  the  place  is  the  fourth 
finger,  where  is  a  vein  which  comes  directly  from  the  heart,  and 
where  it  may  always  be  in  view  ;  and  being  a  finger  least  used, 
it  may  be  least  subject  to  be  worn."* 

It  was  not  only  the  compulsory  use  of  the  ring  that  was 
offensive  to  the  early  Baptist,  but  the  ceremonies  associated 
with  it.  "  The  man  shall  give  unto  the  woman  a  ring,"  says 
the  Marriage  Service  in  the  Prayer  Book,  "laying  the  same 
upon  the  book,  with  the  accustomed  duty  to  the  priest  and 
clerk ;  and  the  priest,  taking  the  ring,  shall  deliver  it  to  the 
man,"  &c.  "  Why  this  ceremony?"  asked  the  Baptists;  "  is 
the  ring  unfit  for  use  until  it  has  been  placed  upon  the  PrajTer 
Book,  and  passes  through  the  hands  of  the  priest  ?  This  is  to 
*  Bates's  College  Lectures  on  Christian  Antiquities.     London.     1814. 


310  DYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

make  the  priest  the  vehicle  of  some  special  grace  ;  and  what  is 
this  but  flat  Popery  ?"  Moreover,  the  use  of  the  formula,  "  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  was  objectionable  to  him  ;  it  savoured  somewhat  of 
the  old  Popish  notion  that  marriage  was  a  sacrament,  and  it 
was  unwarrantable  to  use  such  a  form  of  words  in  an  order  of 
service  which  had  not  received  the  Divine  sanction.  His  dis- 
like of  the  words,  "  With  my  body  I  thee  worship,"  was  quite 
as  emphatic  and  vehement.  "  The  husband  was  the  head  of 
the  wife,"  said  he  ;  "  but  this  is  reversing  the  order,  even  if 
you  only  mean  by  '  worship,'  reverence  and  service.  This  is 
to  unman  a  man  to  gratify  a  ceremony."  But  the  Baptist  had 
not  learnt,  like  some  Anglican  divines,  that  "  words  have  a 
non-natural  sense."  He  took  them  to  mean  just  what  they 
said  ;  and  to  him,  therefore,  these  words — "  with  my  body 
I  thee  worship  " — were  simply  revolting.  "  Did  they  not 
make  him  promise  to  worship  the  creature  '?  And  that  in  the 
name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  ?  And  what 
was  this,  but  idolatry  capped  with  blasphemy?  " 

He  even  went  a  step  further  than  the  Puritan  in  his  view  of 
the  Marriage  Service: — "It  should  certainly  be  a  public  ser- 
vice, and  according  to  the  law  of  God  and  the  law  of  the  land ; 
but  what  need  teas  therefor  a  minister  even  ?  The  minister  did 
not  marry  the  parties,  and  could  not ;  that  was  the  proper  act 
of  the  parties  themselves  :  "  at  least,  so  argued  the  brave  old 
Grantham,  in  his  book  entitled  Truth  and  Peace. 

The  result  was  inevitable.  The  Baptists  refused  to  submit 
to  the  ceremonies  enjoined  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
and  unless  they  conformed  to  these  ceremonies  the  Established 
clergy   refused    to    marry   them.*     The   Baptists,    therefore, 


*  At  the  General  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists,  in  1697,  the  qu 
was  discussed,  "  Whether  a  member  of  our  communion  may  be  married  by  a 
nal  minister?"  and  it  decided,  "that,  provided  the  minister  omitted  the 
ceremonial  part  thereof  respecting  divine  worship,"  he  might. — MS.  Proceed- 
ings of  the  General  Assembly,  vol.  i..  p.  12. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  311 

adopted  a  form  of  their  own  ;  the  origin  of  that  which  is  still 
used  by  the  Society  of  Friends. 

The  method  of  proceeding  was  thus : — When  two  persons, 
free  from  all  other  engagements,  and  qualified  according  to 
God's  law  and  the  country's,  agreed  to  be  married,  due  notice 
was  given  beforehand  to  the  Church  of  which  they  were  mem- 
bers, that  "  all  suitable  inquiries  might  be  made,  and  that  no 
scandal  be  created."  Sometimes  the  notice  was  repeated  in  two 
or  three  separate  meetings  of  the  congregation.  No  valid 
objection  being  discovered,  the  sober  and  demure  bridal  party 
came  to  the  plain  brick  meeting-house.  After  a  suitable  pause, 
the  bride  and  bridegroom  stood  up  before  the  congregation, 
took  each  other  by  the  hand,  and  declared,  either  in  the  words 
of  the  Prayer-book,  "  as  acknowledging  them  to  be  very  fit  for 
that  purpose  ;"  or  in  words  to  this  effect :  "  Brethren  and 
sisters — In  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  and  in  the  presence  of  this 
Assembly,  whom  I  desire  to  be  my  witnesses,  I,  A.  B.,  do  take 
this  our  dear  sister,  C.  D.,  to  be  my  lawful  wife,  promising, 
through  Divine  assistance,  to  be  unto  her  a  faithful  and  loving 
husband,  until  it  shall  please  the  Lord  by  death  to  separate 
us."  The  bride  afterwards  made  a  similar  declaration  in 
regard  to  A.  B.  as  her  "  dear  brother,"  and  "  lawful  husband." 
A  certificate  of  marriage,  "  drawn  upon  a  properly  stamped 
paper,  was  then  signed  by  them,  and  attested  by  as  many  of 
the  congregation  as  was  thought  convenient."  This  ran  as 
follows  : — 

"  This  is  to  certify  to  all  men  that  we,  A.  B.,  of ,  and 

C.  D.,  of ,  have,  the  date  hereof,  entered  into  the  covenant 

state  of  matrimony,  according  to  a  solemn  contract  heretofore 
made  between  ourselves,  and  with  the  consent  of  such  as  are 
concerned  therewith.  And  we  do  now,  in  the  presence  of 
Almighty  God,  and  the  witnesses  hereafter  named,  ratify  the 
said  contract  and  covenant-act  of  marriage  this  day  verbally 
made  ;  in  both  which  we  do,  in  the  fear  of  God,  mutually  and 
solemnly,  and  for  our  part  respectively  promise,  in  the  strength 


312  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

of  God,  to  live  together  in  the  state  of  marriage,  according  to 
God's  ordinance,  from  this  da)'  forward,  to  love  each  other  as 
husband  and  wife,  and  faithfully  to  perform  all  the  duties  to 
which  we  are  bound  by  God's  law,  and  the  good  laws  of  the 
land,  in  that  case  provided,  till  the  Lord  by  death  shall  sepa- 
rate us.  In  testimony  whereof,  we  have  hereunto  set  our 
hands,  the day  of . 

"A.  B. 

"C.  D. 

"  We,  whose  names  are  subscribed,  do  testify  that  the  above- 
said,  A.  B.  and  C.  D.,  the  day  of  the  year  above-said,  did 
mutually  take  each  other  into  the  state  of  marriage,  according 
to  the  contract  and  covenant,  and  ratifying  the  same  by  word 
and  by  the  subscription  hereof,  as  above  said. 

"E.  F. 

"  G.  H. 

"I.  J." 

After  the  signing  of  this  certificate  the  minister,  or  any 
gifted  members  of  the  church,  offered  suitable  counsels  to 
the  newly-wedded  pair,  and  closed  the  ceremony  by  solemnly 
imploring  the  Divine  blessing  upon  the  union.  A  record  of  the 
marriage  was  then  carefully  entered  in  the  church-book.  Some 
of  these  entries  are  very  brief,  and  not  a  little  curious.  Here,  for 
example,  is  one  from  the  church-books  of  Bromsgrove  :  "  At  a 
church  meeting,  upon  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  tenth  month, 
1692,  the  civil  contract  of  marriage  was,  between  John  Hayns 
and  Susannah  Ducks,  solemnised  and  performed,  before  the 
Lord  God,  angels,  and  us  who  were  witnesses  at  the  same  time, 
and  several  members,  male  and  female.     John  Eckells,  sen.," 

In  order  to  understand  the  lawfulness  of  such  marriages,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  b}~  the  Barebones  Parliament  in 
1653,  marriage  was  made  a  civil  contract ;  that  this  act  was 
ratified  in  the  reisrn   of  Charles  the   Second:  and  that  it  re- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  313 

mained  in  force  for  a  century.  The  scandal  created  by  the 
Fleet  marriages  in  the  reign  of  George  the  First,  performed 
by  a  profligate  clergyman  and  his  curate,  led  to  the  passing  of 
the  Marriage  Act  in  1753.  Jews  and  Quakers  were  alone 
exempted  from  its  provisions,  all  other  Dissenters  being  com- 
pelled to  be  married  at  the  parish  church.  The  Bill  of  Lord 
Russell  in  1836  relieved  Nonconformists  from  this  manifest 
injustice. 

Many  attempts  were  made  by  the  bitter  enemies  of  the 
Baptists  to  put  a  stigma  upon  their  simple  marriage  rites, 
before  the  passing  of  the  Act  of  George  the  First ;  but  more 
than  one  action  in  a  court  of  law  brought  them  to  a  wholesome, 
if  tardy,  repentance.  One  instance  will  illustrate  many.  John 
Aldridge,  a  substantial  yeoman,  living  at  Barton-in-the-Beans, 
Leicestershire,  married,  in  1750,  Elizabeth  Cooper.  A  gentle- 
man of  the  neighbourhood,  who  had  long  distinguished  himself 
by  his  petty  persecution  of  Aldridge  and  his  friends,  emplojdng 
a  churchwarden  as  his  agent,  indicted  John  Aldridge  in  the 
Spiritual  Court  for  living  in  adultery  with  Elizabeth  Cooper. 
The  base  and  heartless  attempt  to  destroy  the  domestic  peace 
and  tarnish  the  spotless  name  of  a  worthy  and  virtuous  family, 
excited  the  indignation  of  all  good  men.  A  legal  gentleman  in 
a  neighbouring  village  volunteered  his  services  to  Mr.  Aldridge, 
and  greatly  helped  him  by  his  advice  and  countenance.  The 
case  came  to  a  trial;  and  after  a  full  investigation,  the  Court 
declared  that  the  marriage  of  Mr.  Aldridge  was  perfectly  legal. 
Fearing  a  prosecution  for  defamation  of  character,  the  church- 
warden sued  humbly  for  pardon,  which  Aldridge  cheerfully 
granted.  But  this  victory,  and  the  humiliation  of  his  willirjg 
tool  in  the  case,  still  further  incensed  the  man  who  originated 
the  suit,  and  a  mean  and  cowardly  attack  was  made  by  him 
upon  the  inoffensive  yeoman.  As  Mr.  Aldridge  and  his  family 
were  returning  one  evening  in  the  dark  from  the  house  of  a 
friend,  this  shameless  defamer,  at  the  head  of  a  tipsy  rabble, 
waylaid   them   and   offered   them   the    grossest   insults.     The 


3H  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

ringleader  was  summoned  to  the  Leicester  Assizes  in  1751  ; 
and,  having  secured  a  packed  jury,  confidently  expected  an 
easy  escape  ;  but  the  character  of  the  witnesses,  and  the  equity 
of  the  judge  defeated  their  designs. 

Eighteen  years  after  this  incident,  a  clergyman  in  the  County 
of  Durham  gave  a  sample  of  the  intolerance  with  which  Bap- 
tists were  then  not  infrequently  treated.  He  refused  to  marry 
a  couple  because,  having  been  born  of  Baptist  parents,  they  had 
neither  of  them  been  christened  in  their  infancy.  The  young 
people,  finding  the  clergyman  obstinate,  and  thinking  they  had 
no  redress,  crossed  the  Tweed,  and  were  married  in  Scotland. 
But  the  "priest"  was  avaricious  as  well  as  bigoted.  On  their 
return  he  demanded  his  fees  for  the  marriage  which  he  had 
refused  to  perform.  The  Baptists  declined  to  pay  any  atten- 
tion to  such  an  unreasonable  demand ;  and  the  clergyman 
thereupon  threatened  them  with  a  citation  to  a  Spiritual  Court. 
The  Dissenting  Deputies  in  London  were  written  to ;  the  young 
people  were  encouraged  by  them  in  their  resistance ;  and  the 
grasping  "  priest  "  was  at  last  glad  enough  to  drop  all  further 
proceedings. 

Burying  the  Dead. 

Thomas  Grantham's  book,  Christ ianismns  Primitivus  is  now 
very  scarce,  and  not  likely  to  be  reprinted.  It  may,  therefore, 
not  be  without  interest  to  quote  what  he  says  on  the  subject  of 
burying  the  dead. 

"  The  burial  of  the  dead,"  says  Grantham,  "  is  a  moral  duty, 
as  it  is  an  evidence  of  humanity  ;  and  yet  hath  no  form  pre- 
scribed in  the  Word  of  God  for  the  solemnity  to  be  used  on 
such  occasions.  That  therefore  which  may  most  improve  the 
death  of  our  friends  to  our  own  preparation  for  death,  and  give 
demonstration  of  our  love  to  the  deceased,  with  our  hope  of  his 
resurrection,  is  most  useful  at  such  opportunities  ;  be  it  a  word 
of  exhortation,  with  solemn  prayer,  for  the  better  preparation 
of  ourselves  for  the  day  of  our  dissolution.     Usually  of  old, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  315 

burials  were  solemnised  with  lamentations ;  Gen.  xxv.  2. 
Abraham  came  to  mourn  for  Sarah,  and  to  weep  for  her  ;  yea, 
with  great  lamentation,  as  when  Stephen  was  buried,  Acts 
viii.  2 ;  and  sometimes  with  fasting,  1  Sam.  xxxi.  13. 

"  But  for  the  place  of  burial,  we  find  it  was  at  men's  liberty 
also,  some  preparing  their  own  sepulchres  in  their  gardens. 
Nor  matters  it  much,  so  the  dead  be  buried,  in  what  part  of  the 
earth  we  make  restitution  of  that  earth  which  we  have  carried 
about  for  a  small  moment.  Yet  this  I  must  say,  that  births 
and  burials  are  material  passages  concerning  human  affairs,  and 
therefore  publick  notice  would  be  taken  of  such  changes.  And 
here  the  Baptized  Churches  should  not  be  rejected,  but  some 
care  taken  for  the  keeping  in  memory  the  births  and  burials 
which  happen  to  be  among  them,  for  the  avoiding  of  such  con- 
troversies as  are  wont  to  arise  about  matters  of  estate,  &c. 

"  Nor  is  it  rational  to  debar  them  the  benefit  of  the  common 
burying- places,  sith  they  do  pay  all  impositions  for  the  fencing 
and  orderly  keeping  of  the  said  places,  as  they  have  frequently 
been  in  these  late  times  ;*  yea,  so  inhuman  hath  been  the 
usage  of  some,  that  they  have  been  taken  out  of  their  graves, 
drawn  upon  a  sledge  to  their  own  gates,  and  their  left  un- 
buried.  Thus  did  certain  of  the  inhabitants  of  Croft,  in  the 
county  of  Lincoln,  deal  with  one,  Mr.  Robert  Shalder,  a  bap- 
tized believer,  Anno  1666,  to  the  eternal  infamy  of  the  doers 
of  that  cruel  Act,  whilst  his  epitaph  lives  to  keep  in  memory 
that  sordid  action,  viz.  : — 

"  '  Sleep,  pious  Shalder,  sleep,  in  this  sequestered  grave  ; 

Christ's  faith  thou  well  didst  keep  ;  maugre  the  fiercest  wave 

"Which  Satan's  storms  could  raise  against  the  faith :  And  now 

In  vain  he  findeth  ways  his  malice  still  to  show. 

Thy  Saviour  had  no  grave,  but  what  a  friend  did  lend ; 

Enough  if  the  servant  have  like  favour  at  his  end; 

And  now  thy  faith  divine  I'll  pin  upon  thy  hearse, 

Which  bright,  though  brief,  doth  shine.' 

(Hebrews  vi.,  first,  second  verse.) 


The  Christ ianismus  Pranitivus  was  printed  in  1678. 


316  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

"  For  any  to  make  it  unwarrantable  for  the  baptized  churches 
to  bury  their  dead  among  their  neighbours,  though  of  different 
opinion  in  point  of  religion,  is  a  gross  vanity  ;  and  it  were  as 
idle  as  to  say,  we  may  not  dwell  in  one  house  or  city  together ; 
nay,  much  more  absurd,  for  the  dead  know  nothing,  cannot 
injure  one  another,  but  the  living  may.  This  was  Tillam's 
conceit,  that  prodigious  apostate,  who,  instead  of  promoting 
truth  in  an  amicable  way,  made  it  odious  to  the  eyes  of  all  men, 
by  the  foolish  niceties  wherewith  he  incumbered  it,  together 
with  his  Jewish  ceremonies." 

Crosby  records,  concerning  "  the  chief  actors"  in  the  disin- 
terment of  Mr.  Shalder,  "  that  they  did  not  long  survive  it ;  for 
one  of  them  died  suddenly,  and  the  other  languished  for  some 
time,  being  greatly  terrified  with  the  remembrance  of  what  he 
had  done  for  the  dead." 


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CHAPTER  XII. 
ABOUT     SINGING. 

THE  Baptists  of  the  Seventeenth  Century  were  not  entirely  a 
songless  people.  Some  few  congregations  were  accustomed 
to  sing  the  Psalms  in  the  Authorized  Version ;  but  others,  while 
not  objecting  altogether  to  singing  as  a  part  of  Divine  worship, 
manifested  a  strong  dislike  to  metrical  versions,  and  promis- 
cuous, or  congregational  singing.  The  ground  of  their  dislike 
was  not  the  "  barbarity  and  botching  that  everywhere  occurs  in 
the  translation  of  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  "  * — the  only  English 
metrical  version  then  in  existence.  They  would  have  had  an 
equal  objection  to  the  most  accurate  and  finished  translation,  if 
it  had  been  in  metre.  All  such  versions  were  quaintly  styled 
by  them  "  human  composures,"  and  as  such   were  therefore 


*  "  la  the  reign  of  Edward  VI.  the  effects  of  the  Keformation  became  visible 
in  our  poetry,  by  blending  religious  with  poetical  enthusiasm,  or  rather  by 
substituting  the  one  for  the  other.  Then  flourished  Sternhold  and  Hopkins, 
who,  with  the  best  intentions  and  the  worst  taste,  degraded  the  spirit  of 
Hebrew  psalmody  by  flat  and  homely  phraseology  ;  and  mistaking  vulgarity 
for  simplicity,  turned  into  bathos  what  they  found  sublime.  Such  was  the 
love  of  versifying  Holy  Writ  at  that  period,  that  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  were 
rhymed  and  set  to  music  by  Christopher  Tye." — Campbell's  Essay  on  English 
Poetry.  The  title  of  Tye's  book  is  as  quaint  as  his  rhymes  are  grotesque  : — 
x'  The  Actes  of  the  Apostles :  translated  into  Englyshe  metre,  and  dedicated  to  the 
Kynge's  moste  excellent  majesty.  By  Christopher  Tye,  doctor  in  music ;  with 
notes  to  each  chapter,  to  syng  and  play  upon  the  lute ;  very  necessary  for 
students  after  they  studye  to  fyle  they  ivitts,  and  also  for  all  Christians  that 
cannot  synge,  to  read  the  goodlie  storeys  of  the  lives  of  Christ  Hys 
Apostles.     London,  1553." 


3i 8  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


deemed  unsuitable  for  use  in  public  worship.  The  strictness  of 
their  opinions  on  the  subject  of  church-membership,  and  their 
disrelish  for  anything  that  seemed  to  ignore  the  difference 
between  "the  church"  and  "the  world,"  occasioned  their 
reluctance  to  adopt  congregational  singing. 

A  curious  illustration  of  this  occurs  in  one  of  the  earliest 
references  to  Baptist  opinion  on  the  subject,  found  in  the 
Broadmead  Becords.  The  circumstances  were  these  :  the  two 
Baptists,  the  Independent,  and  the  Presbyterian  churches  in 
Bristol  were  "  under  persecution  "  in  the  year  1G75,  and  an 
attempt  was  made,  apparently  with  a  view  of  strengthening 
each  other's  hands,  to  secure  a  united  service.  A  preliminary 
meeting  was  held,  attended  by  eighteen  representatives  from 
the  four  congregations.  The  Presbyterians — "  Mr.  Week's 
people  " — conscious  of  certain  differences  between  their  own 
customs  and  the  customs  of  the  three  congregational  churches, 
were  afraid  that  this  "  joyning  together  soe  near  might  widen 
and  hurt  "  the  sort  of  fellowship  they  had  hitherto  enjoyed, 
and  damage  their  good  opinion  of  one  another.  According 
to  their  view  "the  stick  and  obstruction"  consisted  in  these 
four  matters  :  (1)  their  habit  of  praying  for  magistrates, 
whether  good  or  bad;  (2)  their  custom  of  "singing  Psalms 
with  others  besides  the  church:"  (3)  their  opinion  that  none 
ought  to  preach  but  those  who  had  been  ordained  by  the 
Presbytery ;  and  (4)  their  fear,  lest  the  Baptists  "  should 
persuade  some  whom  they  deemed  the  best  among  them 
to  be  baptized."  The  first  and  two  last  points  were  met 
in  a  frank  and  brotherly  fashion.  As  to  praying  for  magis- 
trates, "they  were  all  for  it  as  a  duty;"  and  although 
some  of  the  expressions  and  titles  used  by  the  Presbyterians 
when  praying  for  magistrates,  they  could  scarcely  adopt ;  yet, 
"  they  would  bear  with  one  another,  if  they  could  not  say 
Amen  in  all  things."  As  to  the  question  about  preaching 
"  they  were  all  for  an  orderly  ministry,"  and  would  hear  each 
other's  pastors  when  they  came  out  of  prison ;  but  would  be 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  319 

contented,  meanwhile,  to  listen  to  such  "  gifted  brethren,  not 
ministerially  called,"  as  were  still  left  among  them.  It  was, 
moreover,  agreed  "  that  in  this  meeting  of  union  none  should 
preach  up  baptism  of  believers,  nor  any  other  should  preach 
against  it."  So  far  all  were  agreed.  But  when  they  came 
to  the  question  of  singing,  certain  differences  were  dis- 
covered, which  afford  a  singular  revelation  of  the  customs  of 
the  times.  The  representatives  of  Broadmead,  of  the  Inde- 
pendents, and  also  part  of  those  belonging  to  the  second 
Baptist  community,  "  Mr.  Gifford's  people,"  were  willing  "to 
sing  Psalms  with  others  besides  the  Church  ;  "  but  some  few 
of  this  second  Baptist  society  "  scrupled  to  sing  in  metre  as 
they  were  translated,  although  all  of  them  did  hold  that  sing- 
ing of  Psalms."  The  dissentients  pleaded  for  permission  to 
show  their  dislike  of  metrical  versions  and  promiscuous  singing 
"  by  keeping  on  their  hats  "  during  this  part  of  the  service,  "  or 
going  forth ;  "  but  the  rest  were  naturally  unwilling  that  this 
public  and  disorderly  method  of  showing  displeasure  should  be 
adopted.  It  was,  therefore,  agreed,  that  if  the  united  services 
should  be  held,  those  who  sympathised  with  the  dissentients, 
"  if  they  would  not  keep  off  their  hatts  and  sitt  still,  should  be 
desired  to  stay  away." 

That  the  Broadmead  church  were  accustomed  to  sing  Psalms 
at  most  of  their  services  is  evident  from  the  numerous  refer- 
ences to  this  part  of  worship  in  their  remarkable  and  invaluable 
Records.  In  fact,  one  of  the  earliest  complaints  made  against 
them  in  1671  by  "old  Mr.  Wright,  that  had  been  sheriff,"  was 
this — "  that  he  could  hear  them  sing  Psalms  from  their 
meeting-place  at  his  house  in  Hallier's  Lane."  But  the  cir- 
cumstance of  the  Presbyterians  raising  this  question  about 
congregational  singing  four  years  later,  indicates  that  there  was 
at  that  time  a  divided  opinion  among  the  Baptists  on  the 
subject ;  a  supposition  which  was  at  once  confirmed  by  the 
conduct  of  some  of  "  Mr.  Gifford's  people."  We  have,  how- 
ever, no   means   of  ascertaining   how  far   these   two   Bristol 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


churches  represented  the  then  prevalent  opinion  on  singing  in 
their  section  of  the  Baptist  denomination. 

Outwitting  PersBCutors  by  Singing  Psalms. 

There  is  a  smack  of  dry  humour  in  the  use  to  which  the 
Broadmead  church  put  their  fondness  for  psalmody.  They 
often  sung  Psalms  in  order  to  outwit  their  persecutors.  Before 
their  meetings  began  some  particular  Psalm  was  selected,  in 
the  event  of  what  they  called  "trouble"  —  that  is,  the 
sudden  appearance  of  informers,  or  of  the  mayor  and  his 
officers,  for  the  purpose  of  dispersing  their  assemblies  or 
apprehending  their  preachers.  In  "Brother  Gifford's  meet- 
ing" there  was  a  trapdoor  in  the  floor,  on  which  the  preacher 
stood,  and  "  a  company  of  tall  brethren"  surrounded  the  speaker, 
so  that  he  could  be  instantly  let  down  into  the  room  below 
on  the  signal  being  given  that  an  informer  was  at  the  door. 
But  the  Broadmead  brethren,  in  similar  emergencies,  im- 
mediately struck  up  the  Psalm  they  had  previously  agreed 
upon,  and  sung  it  in  a  slow  and  deliberate  manner.  They  had 
also  hit  upon  an  ingenious  contrivance  for  shielding  the  speaker 
from  the  eyes  of  any  informers  who  might  creep  unawares  into 
their  assembly.  The  speaker  stood  behind  a  curtain,  with  a 
few  well-known  friends,  and  this  enclosure  was  guarded  from 
intrusion  by  a  line  of  brethren  "  without  the  curtain,"  who 
hindered  an}'  from  going  behind  but  persons  of  well-established 
repute  among  them.  If  the  informers'  party  in  the  street  made 
a  rush  up-stairs,  they  found  their  steps  impeded  by  "the 
women  and  maides  "  purposely  sitting  on  the  stairs  to  hinder 
their  too  rapid  progress.  And  when  they  entered  the  room  the 
curtain  was  lifted  up,  and  "  all  ye  people  began  to  sing  a 
Psalme." 

In  this  way  the  mayor  and  his  officers  were  many  times  pre- 
vented from  pouncing  upon  any  one  of  the  company  as  the 
ringleader:  "  when  all  were  singing,  he  knew  not  who  to  take 
away   more   than   another."      Of    course   the  mayor  was  not 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  321 

pleased  thus  to  be  baffled  in  seizing  his  prey;  but  "brother 
Terrill  tould  him  Singing  of  Psalms  was  not   contrary  to  ye 
Liturgies  of  ye  Church  of  England  " —  for  which  ready  speech 
brother  Terrill  was  declared  a  ringleader,  and  threatened  with 
imprisonment.     On   other  occasions,  when  the  mayor,  or  the 
bishop's  men  came  to  disperse  them,  and  commanded  them,  in 
the  King's  name,  to  depart,   "ye  people  singing,  none  heeded 
what  they  said,  but  sate  still."     They  thus  tried  to  drown,  to 
the  ears  of  the  rest  of  the  congregation,  the  course  and  brutal 
language  which  some  of  the  officers  did  not  scruple  to  use  to 
"grave  gentlewomen,"  and  even  "to  sister  Ellis,  an  elder." 
When    they    called    the    first    "  confident    jades,"    and    the 
second  "  old  carrion,"  "  ye  people  kept  singing  all  ye  while." 
On  another  occasion  they  thus  defeated  the  whole  posse  of  their 
persecutors — "the  mayor  and  his  officers,  and  the  bishop,  with 
divers  of  his  crew  and  men."     Mr.  Hardcastle,  their  minister, 
had  just  been  released  from  his  second  imprisonment.     It  was 
the  first  Lord's-day  after,  "  being  ye   22nd  of  ye  6th  month, 
August,    1765."       A  larger    company  than   usual    had   met 
together  for  religious   worship.     The   mayor,    hearing   of  the 
meeting,   arranged  his  plans  accordingly.      On   reaching   the 
door,  two  sergeants  were  sent  up  to  command  them  to   dis- 
perse, one  of  them  making  the  proclamation,  "  0,  yes! "  three 
times  in  a  loud  voice.     The   whole  assembly  struck  up   the 
Psalm    selected,   on    receiving    this    signal    that    their   perse- 
cutors were  below,  so  that  the  sergeant's  voice  was  unheard 
save  by   the   few  that    stood    near   him.      The   mayor    now 
goes  up  himself,  followed  by  his  attendants,  and  repeats  the 
command,   in  the  King's  name,   to   depart.     Still  the   singing 
went  on, — "every  one  looked  into  his  owne  book,  and  soe 
sung,  and  kept   stopps  one  with  another,  and  lifted  up  their 
voice   together."     The   mayor  was  puzzled,  and  "  knew  not 
what  to  do."     He  did,  in  fact,  the  best  thing  he  could  do, 
under  such  circumstances  :  "he  went  downe  again."     All  this 
while  the  bishop  himself  was  skulking  "below  att  the  door."  He 

Y 


322  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

also  "  was  coming  up,"  but  his  courage  failed  him  when  he  found 
that  "  the  first  paire  of  staires  was  somewhat  dark."  Brag- 
gart as  he  was,  he  did  not  know  but  the  second  pair  might  be 
darker,  and  he  therefore  very  prudently  "  drew  back."  The 
whole  company  of  persecutors  being  thus  foiled  at  Broad- 
mead,  next  tried  "brother  Gifford's  meeting,"  where,  "find- 
ing him  in  exercise  [that  is,  preaching,]  he  was  marched  off 
to  prison." 

Grantham  on  "the  Duty  of  Thanksgiving." 

Three  3-ears  after  the  dissension  at  Bristol  on  the  subject  of 
singing,  Grantham  published  his  elaborate  treatise  on  Primitive 
Christianity.  It  is  extremely  improbable  that  he  knew,  even  by 
rumour,  what  had  taken  place  at  this  private  meeting  of  the 
representatives  of  the  four  congregations.  It  is,  however,  a 
fact  worth  repeating,  that  Grantham  was  regarded  as  the  elo- 
quent mouthpiece  of  the  General  Baptists  of  his  own  daj\  On 
both  accounts,  therefore,  the  independence  of  his  testimony  on 
the  Baptist  opinion  about  singing,  and  the  position  he  held 
among  his  own  people, — his  remarks  in  the  chapter  in  Primitive 
Christianity  on  "  the  duty  of  thanksgiving,"  possess  a  value  all 
their  own. 

Grantham  begins  by  complaining  that  all  parts  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  "  have  suffered  great  violence  by  the  encroachment 
of  human  innovations,"  and  "this  solemn  part  of  God's  holy 
service  hath  suffered  with  the  rest.  So  perverted  are  men's 
views  of  the  subject  of  thanksgiving,  that  it  has  become  hard 
to  bring  them  off'  from  the  mistakes  into  which  they  have 
fallen."  However,  he  will  "  do  somewhat,  as  God  shall  assist 
him,"  to  shew  these  four  things: — "  (1)  That  Psalms  and 
Hymns,  as  recommended  to  us,  or  required  to  be  performed  as 
a  part  of  public  worship  of  God  in  the  Christian  Church,  are 
to  be  sung  there,  by  such  as  God  hath  fitted  thereto  by  the  help 
of  His  Spirit,  for  the  edification  of  the  Church:  (2)  That  the 
matter   of  these   Psalms  is   to   accord   with   the  Psalms  and 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  323 

Hymns  in  the  Scripture ;  and  that  the  Primitive  Church  used 
no  other  manner  of  singing  than  such  as  that  the  Church  may  be 
edified  by  understanding  the  voyce  of  him  that  sung  ;  (3)  That 
the  formalities  now  used  generally  in  singing  Psalms,  &c,  differ 
greatly  from  that  which  God  hath  ordained  for  this  worship  and 
service  in  that  case ;  (4)  Make  manifest  the  sincerity  of  this 
service  in  praising  God  in  Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Spiritual  Songs 
in  the  Christian  Church." 

In  touching  upon  the  first  point,  Grantham  contends  that 
there  are  two  ways  of  performing  the  service.  The  first  is, 
"  by  meer  art,  as  those  doe  who  only  speak  what  another  puts 
into  their  mouths,"  which,  at  its  best  is  "  no  Christian  ordi- 
nance," but  "  counterfeit  Psalmody,"  and  "  an  empty  form  of 
words."  The  second  is,  "  by  the  gift  of  God's  grace  and 
Spirit."  He  then  proceeds  to  show  that  this  was  what  the 
Apostle  meant  when  he  said,  "  How  is  it,  brethren,  every  one 
of  you  hath  a  psalm,  hath  a  doctrine,"  &c*  Each  one  had 
not  a  Psalm  for  edification,  and  therefore  each  one  could  not 
actually  sing  Psalms.  Those  who  were  thus  gifted  spoke  for 
the  profit  and  comfort  of  others,  although  even  they  might  be 
refused,  "  if  not  according  to  the  Word  of  God."  The  Psalms 
of  David  could  not  be  meant,  since  all  had  them,  and  even  a 
child  seven  years  old,  could  read  or  sing  these  Psalms  ;  there- 
fore, "having  a  Psalm,"  indicated  "something  more  than  the 
ability  to  read  or  sing  them  out  of  a  book."  Still  further,  "  he 
who  had  the  Psalm  is  required  to  sing  the  Psalm  in  the  church, 
and  none  else ;  just  as  he  that  hath  a  doctrine  was  required  to 
produce  it,  and  not  he  that  had  it  not."  And,  lastly,  the  singing 
was  to  be  "performed  to  edifying  ;  consequently  the  church  is 
to  attend  him,  or  to  what  he  holds  forth  in  the  way  of  psalmody, 
that  they  may  be  taught  and  admonished  by  him,  or  have  their 
hearts  exhilarated  or  drawn  up  to  praise  the  Lord  in  conjunction 
of  their  spirits  with  his."  This  last  point  is  also  taught  in  the 
words,  "  Speaking  to  yourselves  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and 

*  1  Corinthians  xiv.  26. 

y2 


324  DYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

spiritual  songs,  singing  and  making  melody  in  your  heart  unto 
the  Lord."*  Not  that  there  was  any  great  difference  "  as  to 
the  matter  and  manner"  between  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual 
songs ;  they  were  various  expressions  for  the  same  thing  sub- 
stantially, like  prophesying,  preaching,  and  teaching ;  nor  yet 
that  these  words  imply  "that  every  man  and  woman  must 
needs  speak  together,  that  the  psalms,  &c,  were  sung  pro- 
miscuously of  the  whole  congregation,  any  more  that  the 
Apostle  Jude's  words,  *  Building  up  yourselves  on  your  most 
holy  faith,  praying  in  the  Holy  Ghost,'  &c,  imply  'that  every 
man  and  woman  is  to  preach  and  pray  actually  at  the  same 
moment  in  the  church."  Moreover,  the  words,  "  Let  the  Word 
of  Christ  dwell  in  you  richly  in  all  wisdom,  teaching  and 
admonishing  one  another  in  psalms,  and  hymns,  and  spiritual 
songs,"  f  &c,  indicate  that  this  service  is,  after  all,  "  a  more 
difficult  way  of  teaching  than  that  of  the  common  gift  of 
exhortation;"  and  it  has  only  to  be  mentioned  to  show  "the 
unmeetness  of  the  weakest  youth  or  virgin  in  the  church 
admonishing  and  teaching  the  pastor,  as  much  as  the  pastor 
teacheth  and  admonisheth  them"  in  the  due  performance  of 
this  duty.  "  This  is  to  make  all  the  body  a  mouth,  and  wholly 
to  take  away  the  use  of  the  ear,  whilst  Psalms  are  thus  being 
sung."  Much  more  could  be  urged  "for  all  praying  at  once 
than  for  all  singing  at  once.JJ  Prayer  is  the  pouring  out  of  our 
hearts  to  God,  and  not  to  one  another  ;  but  in  Psalms  we  speak 
to  one  another,  and  therefore,  of  necessity,  some  must  hear.'' 

Grantham  next  touches  on  the  practice  of  "the  Primitive 
Church  in  singing  of  Psalms ;"  and  contends  that  "  no  other 
way  "  was  in  use  except  that  already  explained.  The  "  singing 
at  the  Last  Supper"  is  no  proof  to  the  contrary.  To  say 
nothing  about  the  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word ;  whether, 
that  is,  the  hymn  was  said  or  sung,  there  is  no  statement  as  to 
who  said  this  hymn,  or  sung  it,  and  there  is  no  evidence  what 
the  hymn  was.  "In  fact,"  says  Grantham,  "there  is  nothing 
*  Ephesians  v.  19.  f  Colossians  iii.  16. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  325 

to  justify  such  a  confused  singing  as  many  use  in  these  days, 
either  in  the  account  of  the  Last  Supper  in  the  Gospel,  or  in 
the  description  of  this  sacred  ordinance  given  by  Paul.  The 
Apostle  does  speak  (1  Cor.  x.)  of  '  the  cup  of  blessing  which 
we  bless ; '  but  he  gives  us  no  account  of  the  hymn 
or  psalm  used  by  our  Saviour  at  that  holy  Manducation. 
Moreover,  in  the  prison  at  Philippi,  Paul  and  Silas  did  not 
pray  together,  neither  did  they  sing  together,  but  they  both 
prayed  and  sang  "  by  course."  So,  in  writing  about  "  saying, 
Amen,  at  the  giving  of  thanks,"  the  Apostle  does  not  favour 
"  promiscuous  singing  by  many  voices  together,  as  in  parochial 
assemblies,  or  other  congregations  of  Christians  ;"  but  "  quite 
overthrows  it,  since  he  makes  it  necessary  that  the  voice  that 
giveth  thanks,  or  singeth,  be  intelligible  to  him  that  stands 
by,  as  much  as  it  ought  to  be  in  prayer,  that  so  the  rest  may 
be  edified,  and  give  their  Amen  to  what  is  expressed  in  prayer 
or  praises."  In  the  "  noise  "  of  promiscuous  singing,  "musick 
may  please  the  ear,"  but  none  can  be  edified.  "  Indeed,"  says 
Grantham,  "  this  new  device  of  singing  what  is  put  in  men's 
mouths  by  a  reader ;"  this  singing,  either  "  David's  Psalms, 
or  their  own  composures,  in  a  mixed  multitude  of  voices;" 
this  singing,  not  merely  "  in  parochial  assemblies,  but  by 
those  that  think  themselves  more  happy,  in  that  they  have 
found  out  a  way  to  compose  hymns  themselves,  and  set  them 
out,  that  others  may  sing  the  same  things  with  them,"  is  not 
only  "  wholly  without  any  example  from  any  of  the  Primitive 
Churches  of  Christ,"  but  is  "  foreign  to  the  sincerity  and 
simplicity  of  this  holy  service."  Once  introduce  the  habit 
of  "  tying  all  to  one  man's  words,  measures,  and  tones,  in  so 
great  an  ordinance"  as  this,  and  you  will  "make  a  fair  way 
for  forms  of  prayer  "  to  follow. 

Grantham  finds  no  little  satisfaction  in  the  fact,  "  that 
many  good  men  of  antient  and  latter  times  have  greatly  dis- 
liked the  musical  way  of  singing  Psalms  ;"  and  in  the  third 
section  he  quotes  a  few  instances  in  point.    There  is  Augustine, 


326  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

for  example.  "  Very  fierce  am  I  sometimes,"  says  Augustine, 
"in  the  desire  of  having  the  melody  of  all  pleasant  music,  (to 
which  David's  Psalter  is  often  sang),  banished  from  mine  own 
ears,  and  out  of  the  whole  church  too  ;  yea,  the  safer  way,  as 
it  seemed  to  me,  which  I  remember  to  have  often  told  me, 
of  Athanasius,  Bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  caused  the  reader 
of  the  Psalm  to  sound  it  forth  with  little  warbling  of  the 
voice,  as  that  it  was  near  to  pronouncing  than  to  singing." 
Rabanus  Maurice  also  declares  that  in  the  Primitive  Church 
"  singing  was  more  like  loud  reading  than  a  song."  Athanasius, 
moreover,  so  disliked  "  a  confused  way  of  psalmody  that  he 
utterly  forbad  it,  since  it  raised  both  lightness  and  vanity 
in  singers  and  hearers."  Erasmus,  in  his  comment  on 
1  Cor.  x.  points  out  how  "  in  monasteries,  cathedrals,  and 
temples,  almost  generally "  men  dissent  from  Paul,  for  in 
"Paul's  time  there  was  no  singing,  but  saying  only."  Theo- 
dosius  Basil,  also,  in  his  Book  of  Belies,  tells  us  of  some 
strange  innovations  made  by  Pope  Vatalian  : — "  Being  a  lusty 
singer,  and  a  fresh  courageous  musician  himself,  brought  into 
the  Church  prick-song,  descant,  and  all  kinds  of  sweet  and 
pleasant  melody.  And  because  nothing  should  want  to  delight 
the  vain,  foolish,  and  idle  ears  of  fond  and  phantastical  men,  he 
joyned  the  organs  to  the  curious  musical.  Thus  was  Paul's 
preaching,  and  Peter's  praying,  turned  into  vain  singing  and 
childish  playing,  unto  the  great  loss  of  time,  and  to  the  utter 
undoing  of  Christian  men's  souls,  which  live  not  by  singing 
and  piping,  but  by  every  word  that  cometh  out  of  the  mouth 
of  God."  Church  music  was  indeed  introduced  two  centuries 
before,  "  though  not  with  these  curiosities."  And  the  "  vanity 
thereof  hath  ever  been  censured  by  wise  men,  and  particularly 
by  Dr.  Cornelius  Agrippa.  '  Music,'  saith  he,  '  is  grown  to 
such  and  so  great  licentiousness,  that  even  in  the  ministration 
of  the  Holy  Sacrament,  all  kinds  of  light,  wanton,  and  trifling 
songs,  with  piping  of  organs,  hath  place.  As  for  Common 
Prayer,   it  is   so    chanted   and   minced,  and  mangled  by  our 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  327 

costly  hired  musicians,  that  it  may  justly  seem  not  to  be  a  noise 
made  by  men,  but  rather  a  bleating  of  brute  beasts;  ivhiles  the 
children  neigh  out  a  descant,  as  it  were  a  sort  of  colts,  others 
bark  a  counter  tenor  like  a  number  of  dogs.  Some  bellow  out  a 
tenor,  like  a  company  of  oxen ;  and  others  grunt  out  a  bass, 
like  a  company  of  hogs,  so  that  a  very  ill-favoured  sound  is 
made  :  but  as  for  the  words  and  sentences,  nothing  is  under- 
stood but  the  authority  and  power  of  judgment  from  the  ears 
and  heart.'  " 

This  quotation  seems  to  Grantham  "  to  give  fit  occasion  to 
show  something  of  the  vanities  formerly  in  use  in  cathedral 
devotions,  and  now  in  common  use  in  several  places  in  this 
nation."  He,  therefore,  quotes  one  of  the  collects  as  generally 
sung,  "  and  the  manner  thus  "  : — ■ 

"  Almighty  God,  the  fountain  of  all  wisdom,  of  all  wisdom  ; 
which,  knoweth  our  necessities  before  we  ask,  which  knoweth  our  ne- 
cessities before  we  ask,  before,  before  ice  ask,  before  we  ask ;  and 
our  ignorance  in  asking,  in  asking,  in  asking.  We  beseech  Thee, 
we  beseech  Thee,  we  beseech  Thee,  to  have  compassion,  to  have 
compassion,  to  have  compassion,  on  our  infirmities,  on  our  infirmi- 
ties, infirmities,  our  infirmities.  And  those  things,  those  things, 
those  things,  which  for  our  unworthiness,  which  for  our  unworthi- 
ness,  unworthiness,  our  unworthiness,  which  for  unworthiness,  we 
dare  not,  we  dare  not,  we  dare  not ;  and  for  our  blindness,  our 
blindness,  for  our  blindness,  we  cannot  ask,  we  cannot  ask,  we 
cannot  ask :  Vouchsafe  to  give  us,  vouchsafe  to  give  us,  for  the 
worthiness,  for  the  worthiness;  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  Jesus  Christ  our 
Lord,  of  Thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
Amen,  Amen,  Amen,  Amen,  Amen.*7 

However  much  Grantham  may  have  disliked  these  "  vain 
repetitions,"  or  however  greatly  he  may  have  admired  the 
sharp  things  said  about  Church  music  by  "some  ancient  and 
latter  writers,"  it  is  somewhat  strange  that  one  so  well-in- 
formed did  not  notice  the  fact  that  congregational  singing  was 


328  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

destroyed  by  these  innovations,  not  created ;  that  the  clerical 
Cantores  took  the  singing  entirely  out  of  the  mouth  of  the 
people  generally ;  that  later  on,  one  of  the  signs  of  men  being 
disciples  of  Huss  and  Luther  was,  that  they  sung  Psalms 
together ;  and  that  many  suppose  this  practice  earned  for  the 
Lollards  their  distinctive  name. 

In  the  fourth  section  Grantham  discourses  on  what  he  deems 
"  the  sure  way  of  praising  God  in  psalms,  hymns,  and  spiritual 
songs,  according  to  the  Scripture."  He  dismisses  the  example 
of  singing,  accompanied  by  musical  instruments,  set  forth  in 
the  Old  Testament,  as  a  concession  to  the  "  gross  hearts  of  the 
Jews,"  as  belonging  to  what  Calvin  calls  "  the  law  of  school- 
ing, and  now  no  more  meet  for  setting  forth  God's  glory,  than 
if  a  man  should  call  again  censing,  lamps,  and  other  shadows 
of  the  law.  Foolishly,  therefore,  have  the  Papists  borrowed 
these  things  from  the  Jews."  Since,  then,  "singing  in  tunes 
and  measures  by  a  company  of  singing  men,  or  a  confused 
multitude,  will  be  found  to  be  as  much  borrowed  from  the 
Jews,  as  the  musical  instruments  themselves,  .  .  .  and  the  law 
of  these  ceremonies  being  peculiar  to  the  Jewish  Church,  and 
in  no  ways  transmitted  to  the  Church  of  Christ  by  any  part  of 
Christ's  doctrine  in  the  New  Testament,  ...  it  remains  that  we 
stand  fast  in  the  liberty  wherewith  Christ  hath  made  us  free." 

As  to  the  matter  of  singing,  in  New  Testament  Churches, 
"  it  must  be  the  Word  of  God,  or  that  which  is  according  to  it, 
seated  in  the  soul  of  the  Christian,  and  not  as  it  may  be  read 
to  them  out  of  a  book  only,  and  then  repeated."  "David's 
Psalms  and  other  Divine  hymns,  contained  in  the  Scriptures, 
are  good  presidents  and  guides  to  us  in  the  performance  of  this 
duty  ;  but  to  take  these  Psalms  barely  as  they  lie,  and  to  sing 
them  ;  or  to  translate  them  into  metre,  and  then  to  sing  them  ; 
or  to  take  them  as  others  have  translated  them  into  metre,  and 
so  to  sing  them,  is  that  which  we  find  not  so  much  as  one  of 
the  Primitive  Christians  to  have  done  before  us  ;  and  how 
we  should  suppose  such  things  to  be  acceptable  to  God  in  His 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  329 

worship,  I  know  not."  It  is  not  "  a  bare  recital  of  Sacred 
Scripture"  that  is  implied;  but  "  some  part  of  the  heavenly 
mystery,  or  mind  of  God  contained  therein,  with  a  present 
capacity  of  fitness  and  spirit  to  sound  forth  His  praise  that 
giveth  the  Word,  and  to  the  profit  of  the  Church."  But  this 
is  a  gift  not  bestowed  upon  every  one,  any  more  than  the 
ability  to  edify;  yet  "  he  that  hath  a  Psalm,  or  gift  to  praise 
God  in  His  Church,  ought  to  sing  there  to  edify  others." 

The  same  things  are  virtually  repeated  when  speaking  "  of 
the  manner  how  Christians  are  to  sing  praises  to  God  in  church 
assemblies,"  only  with  greater  detail.  "  The  only  certain  and 
undoubted  manner  is  this : — That  such  persons  as  God  hath 
gifted  to  tell  forth  His  mighty  acts,  and  to  recount  His  special 
Providences,  and  upon  whose  hearts  God  hath  put  a  lively 
sense  of  present  mercies,  should  have  the  liberty  and  convenient 
opportunity  to  celebrate  the  high  praises  of  God,  one  by  one;'" 
that  all  this  is  "  to  be  done  with  a  pleasant  and  cheerful  voice, 
that  may  serve  to  express  the  joys  conceived  in  the  heart  of 
him  that  singeth,  the  better  to  affect  the  hearts  of  all  the 
congregation  with  the  wondrous  works  of  God,  and  the  con- 
tinual goodness  which  He  sheweth  toward  the  children  of  men, 
and  especially  towards  His  people."  This  method  "  of  one 
only  singing  the  praises  of  God  is  perhaps  but  rarely  done  in 
these  days,  at  least  not  as  it  should  be  ;  yet  I  know  not  of  any 
that  deny  the  thing  to  be  lawful."  It  certainly  requires  "  as 
great  an  ability,  and  as  spiritual  a  mind,  as  any  other  service 
performed  in  the  churches,  and  therefore  calls  for  as  great 
study,  and  holy  waiting  upon  God  for  His  help  in  the  perform- 
ance or  ministerial  part  thereof." 

But  as  for  "plain  song,  prick-song,  descant,  or  other  poetical 
strains,"  they  are  "  men's  devices,"  and  "  very  much  unlike 
the  gravity  of  Christian  worship."  "The  very  Papists  deride 
the  singing  of  David's  Psalms  in  a  rhythmical  way,"  especially 
those  translated  by  Beza,  calling  them  "Geneva  jiggs ; "  and 
the  use  of  such  Psalms,  "  though  better  translated  than  they 


33Q  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

are,  as  a  part  of  our  rational  worship  is  thought  by  one  writer 
to  be  as  ridiculous  as  making  our  addresses  to  persons  in 
authority  by  epistles  and  orations  out  of  Tully."  To  which 
Grantham  rejoins :  M  But  if  David's  Psalms,  though  better 
translated  than  they  are,  will  not  pass  in  the  judgment  of  this 
learned  Protestant  for  a  part  of  rational  worship,  I  marvel 
how  such  as  pretend  to  a  higher  pitch  of  reformation  should 
think  that  their  private  poetisms  should  find  acceptance  in  the 
churches  of  God.  How  much  better  is  it  to  content  ourselves 
where  we  are  than  to  take  up  such  fancies .-  " 

"  Musical  singing  with  a  multitude  of  voices  together  in 
rhime  and  metre  is  liable,''  says  Grantham,  "to  so  many  just 
exceptions,  as  may  caution  any  good  Christian  to  beware  of  it." 

(1)  The  very  founders  and  uses  soon  became  disgusted  with  it. 

(2)  The  very  novelty  of  it  makes  against  it.  (3)  Instruction  is 
prevented,  "for  when  all  speak,  none  can  hear;"  and  "spiritual 
gifts  are  drowned  by  the  voice  of  men  and  women  who  have  no 
giftst  a  all."  (4)  None  so  singing  "  can  be  confident  they  have 
done  the  will  of  God."  (5)  Singing  other  men's  words  "  opens 
a  gap  for  forms  of  prayer."  (6)  It  makes  void  the  way  of 
singing  which  is  undoubtedly  warranted.  (7)  Once  permit 
the  singing  by  art  pleasant  tunes,  and  you  will  bring  music, 
and  even  instruments  back  again  into  public  worship,  and  then, 
farewell  all  solemnity.  (8)  You  even  make  this  proposition 
true — that  no  Christian  Church  is  complete  in  the  order  of 
God's  worship,  without  some  skill  in  poetry  and  music. 

Grantham  closes  by  saying,  "  I  would  not  be  understood 
to  censure  those  that  differ  from  me  in  understanding  or 
practice  in  this  particular,  who  have  a  pious  mind  in  setting 
forth  God's  praises  in  some  of  the  modes  opposed" — a  charity 
which  was  unfortunately  not  largely  imitated,  as  we  shall 
presently  see.  He  however  wishes  that  "  the  baptized  churches 
especially  would  more  seriously  consider  this  matter  than 
hitherto,  that  this  service  might  be  better  known  to  the  glory 
of  God  and  the  good  of  the  churches." 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  331 


Mr.  Keach  introduces  Singing  at  Horselydown. 

The  words  of  Grantham  point  to  a  change  which  was  already 
beginning  to  creep  slowly  over  some  of  the  songless  sanctuaries 
of  the  Baptists,  at  least  of  the  other  section,  if  not  of  his  own. 
Among  the  persons  "  who  had  found  out  a  way  to  compose 
hymns,  and  set  them  out  that  others  might  sing  the  same 
things  with  them,"  was  Benjamin  Keach,  who  had  already 
been,  at  the  time  Grantham  published  his  book,  for  ten  years 
the  devoted  and  exemplary  pastor  of  Goat-street,  Horsely- 
down. Indeed,  according  to  one  complainant,  Mr.  Keach  was 
the  first  minister  who  introduced  singing  in  that  church  ;  but 
the  only  concession  originally  permitted  was,  that  they  should 
sing  after  the  Lord's  Supper.  To  the  great  trouble  of  the  un- 
musical brethreu  in  the  church,  "many  of  the  honest  hearers, 
who  stayed  to  see  that  holy  administration,  sung  with  them." 
The  next  innovation  was,  singing  on  public  thanksgiving  days ; 
but  this  was  continued  for  a  brief  period,  and  is  spoken  of 
in  1691  as  ceasing  twelve  or  fourteen  years  previously.  An 
attempt  was  made  to  revive  it  when  a  stranger  occupied  the 
pulpit,  and  apparently  with  some  little  success.  The  minister 
"had  ended  his  exercise,  when  a  hymn  was  given  up  to  him, 
we  know  not,"  say  the  songless  few,  "  by  whom,  (except  it 
were  by  Mr.  Keach's  means,)  which  he  read  and  sung,  and  the 
people  with  him  ;  but  this  was  not  in  the  least  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  church,  but  was  an  imposition  on  them,  and  a 
surprise  to  the  minister  himself,  and  his  great  trouble,  when  he 
had  considered  of  it,  as  he  himself  told  many  of  us  after- 
wards." 

Keach's  Defence  of  Singing. 

The  dissentients  at  Horselydown  found  a  valorous  champion 
in  Isaac  Marlow,  who  had,  in  169.0,  published  a  Discourse 
Concerning — or  rather   against — Singing.     Mr.  Keach  followed 


332  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

with  his  Breach  Repaired  in  God's  Worship ;  or,  Singing 
Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Spiritual  Songs,  proved  to  be  a  holy  ordi- 
nance of  Jesus  Christ.  Very  gravely  and  very  soberly  does  the 
good  pastor  set  to  work,  in  this  book,  to  show  "  that  there  are 
various  kinds  of  voices ;  namely,  (1)  a  shouting  noise  of  the 
tongue ;  (2)  a  crying  noise  ;  (3)  a  preaching  voice,  or  noise 
made  that  way ;  (4)  a  praying,  or  praising  voice  ;  and,  lastly, 
(5)  a  singing  voice.  All  these,"  says  Mr.  Reach,  without  a 
smile  (in  fact  his  face,  judged  from  the  portrait  prefixed  to  one 
edition  of  his  book,  looks  as  if  it  could  rarely  smile),  "  are  dis- 
tinct from  each  other.  Singing,"  he  declares,  "  is  not  a  simple 
heart  singing,  or  mental  singing ;  but  a  musical  melodious  mo- 
dulation, or  tuning  of  the  voice."  "  Singing  is  a  duty  per- 
formed always  with  the  voice,  and  cannot  be  done  without  the 
tongue."  The  duty  of  singing  is  then  enforced  on  various 
grounds.  It  is  an  ancient  practice  :  "  angels  sang  at  the  first 
creation."  "  The  devil  hates  it,  is  a  great  enemy  of  singing, 
and  doth  not  love  the  Hosannas  to  Christ."  It  is  a  moral  duty. 
It  is  right  to  use  the  faculty  we  have  for  singing,  since  God 
creates  nothing  in  vain.  It  is  a  part  of  natural  religion.  It 
has  been  practised  by  God's  people  in  all  ages  :  before  the 
giving  of  the  Law,  under  the  Law,  under  the  Gospel,  and  after 
Apostolic  times. 

Keach,  according  to  Marlow,  had  twelve  months  before  the 
publication  of  this  book,  "  vehemently  pressed  forward  "  the 
duty  of  singing,  at  "  the  first  and  greatest  Assembly"  of  Parti- 
cular Baptists,  challenged  to  dispute  the  matter,  and  had  been 
accepted  ;  but  the  Assembly  "  thought  it  not  convenient  to 
spend  much  time  that  way."  He  also  points  out  that  Hercules 
Collins  was  the  first  to  broach  the  assertion  among  the  Parti- 
cular Baptists  that  singing  was  "  a  public  duty,"  in  his  ap- 
pendix to  his  Orthodox  Catechism,  published  in  1680  ;  and  that 
Keach  followed  in  the  same  strain  both  in  his  Tropes  and 
Figures  (1682),  and  his  Treatise  on  Baptism,  or  Gold  Refined 
(1689). 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  333 

"The  Leader  of  the  Opposition"  — Isaac  Marlow. 

The  controversy  once  opened,  was  carried  on  with  great 
eagerness  on  both  sides  for  the  next  eight  or  ten  years. 
Marlow  followed  Reach's  Breach  Repaired,  by  a  treatise  en- 
titled The  Truth  Soberly  Defended  (1692).  Singing  is  therein 
designated  "  false  worship,"  "  error,"  "  dangerous  and  de- 
structive to  the  peace  and  well-being  of  our  churches,  and  to 
the  pure  worship  of  God  therein,"  a  practice  from  which  he 
hopes  all  "  sober,  impartial,  and  inquiring  Christians,  may  keep 
themselves  undefiled."  Hanserd  Knollys  had  printed  a  sheet 
for  singing,  often  quoted  against  Marlow ;  but  Marlow  thinks, 
that  the  strictures  in  that  on  himself  are  to  be  charitably  judged 
as  arising  "through  the  failure  of  Knollys'  intellects,  he  being 
then  between  ninety-two  and  ninety-three  years  of  age."  As 
for  Joseph  Wright's  book,  Folly  Detected,  animadverting  on 
Marlow's  first  publication,  "  it  showeth  folly  in  the  face  of  it, 
wherein  there  is  neither  spiritual  savour,  nor  common  civility ; 
but  in  divers  parts  of  it  a  breathing  forth  of  passion,  anger, 
and  great  contempt."  Hard  words,  with  a  vengeance  :  but  in 
this  singing  controversy  a  good  many  hard  words  were  uttered, 
and  men's  passions  ran  high.  Even  Mr.  Keach  has  dealt  out  to 
him  a  fair  share  of  rebuke.  Marlow  complains  of  being  styled 
by  both  Wright  and  Keach,  "  a  person  not  fit  to  meddle  with 
divine  things,"  a  man  "that  plays  the  part  of  a  sophister," 
"justifying  Quaker's  silent  meetings,"  "little  better  than  an 
enthusiast,"  "  a  mischievous  person  who  fires  his  neighbour's 
house,  and  burns  down  his  own,"  "  a  ridiculous  scribbler,"  "  a 
brazen  forehead,"  "  a  non-churcher,"  "  a  ranter,"  "  a  novice," 
"  an  ignoramus,"  and  other  equally  contemptuous  terms. 
"  By  this  way,"  says  Marlow,  "  they  have  laboured  to  aliene 
the  minds  of  Christians  from  me." 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  querulous  complaint  in  Marlow's 
book ;  but  these  expressions  show  how  much  occasion  had 
been  given  for  his  reference  to  Mr.  Keach's  "  hot  spirit."    The 


334  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

singing  every  Lord's-day  at  Horselydown,  which  was  the 
third  innovation,  had,  in  Marlow's  judgment,  been  smuggled  in 
by  unfair  means.  "  A  church-meeting  was  called  on  Sunday 
evening  after  the  public  worship  was  over."  Mr.  Keach 
obtained  a  majority  of  votes;  but,  adds  Marlow,  "a  major 
vote  is  no  proof  of  truth."  Unquestionably  :  but  the  point  to 
be  decided  then  was,  not  "  the  truth,"  but  the  adoption  of 
singing  after  every  service  on  the  Sunday.  The  majority 
carried  the  day ;  but  the  dissentients  soon  after  seceded  from 
Horselydown,  formed  themselves  into  a  fresh  community,  and 
established  the  church-meeting  at  Maze  Pond." 

The  hearty  personalities  of  several  pamphlets  published  at 
this  time  on  the  singing  controversy,  led  the  Particular  Baptist 
General  Assembly,  for  the  credit  of  the  denomination,  to  take 
up  the  matter.  Seven  brethren  were  appointed  to  examine 
certain  pamphlets,  and  report  thereon,  the  offenders  agreeing  to 
abide  by  their  decision.  Marlow  was  not  among  them.  The 
committee  sharply  reproved  the  pamphleteers  for  "  their  uncha- 
ritable, unsavoury  censures,  reflections,  and  reproaches."  The 
books  were  desired  to  be  brought  in,  and  left  at  the  disposal  of 
the  Assembly.  The  writers  were  warned,  that  if  they  repeated 
their  offences,  "  they  will  be  remarked  ;"  but  they  are  entreated 
by  the  committee,  "on  their  knees,  to  keep  the  unity  of  the 
spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace."  The  members  of  the  churches 
were  besought  neither  "  to  buy,  sell,  give,  or  disperse,"  certain 
pamphlets  named,  among  which  was  Marlow's  Truth  Soberly 
Defended. 

Crosby  is  evidently  in  error  when  he  says  that  "  a  stop  was 

thus  put  to  the  troubles  that  threatened  the  baptized  churches 

upon  this  controversy  ;"  although  it  may  be  quite  true  that 

"  many  of  them  from  that  time  sung  the  praises  of  God  in  their 

*  "  They  continued  to  adhere  steadfastly  to  the  principle  of  the  original 
constitution  till  after  the  death  of  their  second  minister,  Kev.  Edward  Wallen : 
but  Abraham  West,  in  1739,  made  it  a  condition  of  his  accepting  the  pastoral 
office,  that  singing  should  be  introduced  into  public  worship." — "Wilson's  Dis- 
senting Churches. 


&YE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  335 

public  assemblies  who  had  not  used  that  practice  before."  * 
Marlow's  Controversy  of  Singing  brought  to  an  end  was  issued  a 
few  years  subsequently  ;  and  instead  of  ending  the  debate,  gave 
it  a  fresh  impetus.  In  this  book  Mario w  thus  states  the  dif- 
ference between  himself  and  his  opponents  : — "  The  question 
between  us  and  our  brethren  is  not,  whether  any  such  thing  as 
vocal  melodious  singing  is  exhorted  unto  in  the  New  Testament, 
for  this  we  freely  own  ;  but  the  controversie  lyes  herein,  viz.  : 
(1)  Whether  the  saints  were  moved  to  the  exercise  of  it  in  the 
Apostle's  time,  only  as  an  extraordinary  spiritual  gift,  depending 
on  divine  inspiration  as  some  other  gifts  did ;  or,  that  it  was 
appointed  as  a  constant  gospel  ordinance  in  the  church  in  an 
ordinary  administration  also.  (2)  In  what  external  manner  it 
was  thus  exercised ;  whether,  in  a  prestinted  form  of  words, 
made  in  artificial  rhimes  ;  or,  as  the  Spirit,  by  His  more  imme- 
diate dictates,  gave  them  utterance.  And  (3)  Who  was  it  that 
sang  ?  Whether  the  minister  sang  alone  ;  or  with  him  a  promis- 
cuous assembly  of  professors,  and  profane  men  and  women, 
with  united  voices  together." 

Marlow's  Strictures  on  Allen's  Essay. 

Another  singing  brother  had  entered  the  lists  in  place  of  Mr. 
Keach — Mr.  Richard  Allen.  This  worthy  minister  had  shown 
his  willingness  to  suffer  for  the  truth  during  the  times  of  perse- 
cution. He  had  been  pastor  of  the  church  at  Turners'  Hall  for 
many  years,  and  was  now  minister  at  Barbican.  During  his 
previous  pastorate  he  had  been  fined,  and  had  lain  for  some 
weeks  in  Newgate.  On  one  occasion,  whilst  preaching  at  the 
early  hour  of  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  some  troopers  sur- 
prised the  congregation,  abused  the  people,  and  from  being 
incensed  against  the  preacher,  threw  one  of  the  forms  at  him 
as  he  stood  in  the  pulpit.  Although  regarded  as  a  General 
Baptist  in  sentiment,  his  chief  friends  were  among  the  Par- 
ticular Baptist  ministers.  Sympathising  with  Mr.  Reach's 
*  Crosby,  vol.  iii.  271. 


336  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

opinions    on    singing,   he    had   published  An  Essay  to  Prove 
Singing   of  Psalms   with    Conjoint    Voices,   a    Christian    Duty. 
Marlow  now  turns  his  facile   sword  to  meet  the  new  comer. 
Mr.  Allen  had  urged,  in  his  Essay,  that  as  men  had  the  faculty 
not  only  for  praising  God  in  their  hearts,  but  also  in  their 
mouths,  it  was  therefore  their  moral  duty  to  use  both  faculties. 
"Is  it?"  says  Marlow.     "Then  why  not  all  other  faculties 
too — dancing,  laughing,  shouting,  whistling,  since  these  are  as 
much  faculties  as  singing?"    Mr.  Allen   thinks  men  may  use 
a  Scriptural  form  of  sound  words  in  prayer.     But  it  follows 
not,  therefore,  that  there  is  any  ground  for  men  of  a  failable 
[fallible]  spirit  to  compose  a  form  of  prayer  in  their  own  words, 
and  impose  it  upon  others.     "Exactly  so,"  adds  Marlow,  "and 
we  have  the  same  dislike  to  stinted  forms  of  hymns  made  by 
Mr.  Allen  and  his    fellow-singers,   unless    he   would   have  us 
believe  him  and  them  to  be  infailable   penmen  of  hymns  for 
Gospel  worship."    Xay,  even  "the  utterance  of  David's  words, 
1  As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  waterbrooks,'  is  to  teach  people 
hypocrisy."     Mr.  Allen   does   not    think,  on  the   other  hand, 
"  that  there  is  anything  in  the  Psalms  but  what  every  Christian, 
by  the  gracious  illumination  and  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
may  sing  with  a  truly  Christian  spirit,  and  with  much  comfort 
and  edification  to  themselves  ; "  in  which  opinion  he  will  now 
be  supported  by  thousands  of  godly  men.     But  Marlow  makes 
merry  over  this  statement,  and  asks,  "  Whether  they  can  so 
sing  for  their  comfort    and    edification,  '  I  have   more  under- 
standing than  all  my  teachers,'  '  I  understand  more  than  the 
ancients  ; '   but  if  every  one,  or   any,  of  Mr.   Allen's   church 
should  tell  him  so,  in  the  common  way  of  speaking,  I  query  if 
he  would  not  think  them  wise  in  their  own  conceits."     As  to 
Mr.  Allen's  assertion,  that  some  of  the  Psalms  were  written  in 
rhyme,   "it    shows    that   he   is    no   Hebrew   scholar;"   "the 
rhyming  at  the  end"  of  the  Psalms  he  quotes  "only  happen 
so;"  and  "  several  Jews,"  to  whom  Marlow  had  appealed,  de- 
clared "  that  there  were  no  rhvmes  in  the  Hebrew." 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  337 

1 _ 

The  taste  for  congregational  singing  had  evidently  spread  in 
London  since  the  controversy  began,  from  the  fact  that  Marlow 
now  "  grieves  that  so  many  of  our  London  elders  and  ministers 
are  blemished  with  such  rotten  notions,"  and  that  "  our  holy 
profession  and  reformation  is  stained  with  so  great  a  faction  as 
they  have  raised."  The  practice  of  congregational  singing  will, 
in  his  opinion,  lead  to  "  baptism,  and  all  upholders  of  it,  being 
contemned  and  frowned  at,"  whatever  expenditure  there  may 
be  of  labour  and  men  "  to  stop  the  gap  that  is  opening."  At 
the  thought  of  his  own  efforts,  Marlow  grows  prophetic  : — 
"  "Whether  our  singing  elders  and  fellow  Christians  will  hear, 
or  whether  they  will  forbear  ;  I  believe  that  my  testimony  to 
the  truth  will  outlive  them,  and  their  folly,  committed  in  God's 
Israel,  whatever  may  become  of  me."  But  "  where,  with  your 
innovations,"  says  Marlow,  "  do  you  design  to  stop  ?"  "  You 
have  introduced  this  'piece  of  false  worship  :'  what  will  be  the 
next?" 

As  to  the  men  whose  names  were  put  to  A  Sober  Reply  to 
Mr.  R.  Steed's  Epistles,  they  have  thereby  proclaimed  them- 
selves the  ringleaders  in  this  innovation  ;  forgetting  that  "since 
the  yoak  of  persecution  has  been  taken  from  off  our  necks 
there  has  been  woful  demonstrations  of  decay,  of  true  godli- 
ness, and  such  troubles  and  disorders  as  I  have  never  heard 
of  among  us  before,  the  occasion  whereof  in  part  has  arisen 
from  this  piece  of  false  worship  which  they  have  appeared  for, 
and  so  have  endeavoured  to  introduce  into  our  churches." 

"  Even  Mr.  Reach's  failure  to  get  the  sanction  of  the  General 
Assembly  to  his  love  of  singing,  did  not  deter  one  of  your 
number,  Mr.  Thomas  Whinnel,  from  attempting,  at  the  last 
meeting,  craftily  and  surreptitiously,  in  combination  with  others, 
on  the  last  day  of  the  Assembly,  when  most  of  the  country 
messengers  were  gone  home,  and  many  of  the  messengers  of 
the  churches  in  the  city  were  absent,  a  time  intended  only  for 
them  that  remained  to  put  in  order  what  had  been  agreed  on 
in  the  former  days  of  their  Assembly  that  it  might  be  presented 


338  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

to  the  churches — did  then  present  something  to  be  debated 
concerning  persons  retaining  their  communion  with  a  church 
whereof  they  were  members,  though  the  practice  of  common 
singing  were  contrary  to  their  common  judgment  and  con- 
sciences set  up  in  it ;  but  being  then  so  unseasonably  presented 
in  the  absence  of  the  greater  part  of  the  Assembly,  it  was 
witnessed  against  by  many  then  present,  as  that  which  was  not 
fit  to  be  debated  at  that  time  ;  it  savouring  more  of  a  political 
contrivance,  than  of  honesty  and  candour." 

These  queries  of  Marlow,  addressed  to  the  same  persons, 
read  strangely  enough  in  our  day  :  "  (1)  Whether  you  believe 
it  lawful,  by  the  command  of  God,  for  you  that  are  members  of 
a  separate  baptized  church,  to  have  full  communion  at  the 
Lord's  table,  with  a  church  of  the  Independent  profession,  who 
are  not  baptized  on  a  profession  of  faith,  but  only  sprinkled  in 
their  infancy  ?  (2)  Whether  you  count  it  lawful  for  you  to  have 
such  full  communion  with  those  Independent  brethren,  and  can  ting 
ivith  them,  as  they  do  in  public  worship,  that  then  you  have  any 
ground  to  make  it  a  case  of  conscience  to  maintain  a  separate 
church  state  from  them  ?  " 

Marlow  singles  out,  among  the  special  advocates  for  congrega- 
tional singing  who  deserve  his  censure,  William  Kiffin,  Kobert 
Steed,  George  Barrat,  and  E.  Man.  They  are  all  charged,  like 
Keach,  with  "  vehemently  and  frequently  pressing  the  ques- 
tion "  on  the  attention  of  various  Assemblies,  with  preaching 
this  "common  set-form  of  singing,''  and  "with  inserting  in 
print  in  the  view  of  all  men  "  their  opinions  thereon.  For  his 
own  part,  he  is  full  of  fear  about  this  "piece  of  human  art, 
introduced  for  a  piece  of  gospel  worship."  "  Trouble  and  dis- 
traction "  have  already  come  as  the  consequence ;  and  "  unless 
the  churches  themselves  use  great  care  and  faithfulness  in  pre- 
serving the  purity  of  those  congregations  that  are  better  prin- 
cipled than  their  elders,  or  some  of  their  ministers,  a  few  years 
will  produce  a  great  alteration  in  divers  of  our  churches  about 
London."     To  such  an  extent  had  "  the  infection  "  of  "  set- 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  339 

form  singing"  spread,  that,  in  Marlowe's  opinion,  there  were 
in  1696  but  few  churches  in  the  metropolis,  "  but  what  have 
either  their  elders  or  their  ministers  "  under  its  poison.  "When 
the  better  principled  are  removed  by  death,  these  men  will  step 
into  their  places ;  and  then,  with  their  removal,  and  the 
wearing  away  of  the  ancient  members, — what  may  we  expect  ? 
It  will  be,  as  Dr.  Owen  says,  '  Like  priest,  like  people.'  " 

E.  H.'s  "Scripture  Proof.  " 

The  same  year  that  Marlow  published  his  last  book  (1696), 
a  certain  "  E.  H."  issued  a  book,  entitled,  Scripture  Proof  for 
Singing  of  Scripture  Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Spiritual  Songs.  Or, 
an  Answer  to  several  Queries  and  Objections  frequently  made  use 
of  to  stumble  and  turn  aside  young  Christians  from  their  duty  to 
God  in  singing  Psalms  gathered  out  of  Scripture  Truth.  To 
which  is  added,  the  Testimony  of  some  Learned  Men  to  Prove 
that  Scripture  Psalms  are  intended  by  all  those  three  words, 
Psalms,  Hymns,  and  Songs,  used  by  the  Apostles — Lph.  v.  19 ; 
Col.  iii.  16."  The  book  was  prefaced  by  "an  Epistle," 
signed  by  Nathaniel  Mather  and  Edward  Chauncy,  which 
runs  as  follows:  "The  author  is  by  face  wholly  unknown 
to  us;  but  we  have,  with  much  satisfaction  and  delight, 
perused  his  ensuing  treatise,  finding  it  to  be  solid  and  judicious, 
and  full  of  Scripture  light  and  strength,  and  singularly  adapted 
and  suited  to  enlighten  and  establish  plain  Christians,  whose 
consciences  are  determined  by,  and  faith  bottomed  in,  the 
Scriptures.  As  to  his  opinion,  that  nothing  should  be  sung  in 
public  worship  but  Scripture  Psalms,  and  Hymns,  and  Spiritual 
Songs,  thereby  excluding  the  hymns  of  human  composure,  by 
a  private  gift,  which  some  sing  in  their  solemn  assemblies,  we 
do  freely  concur  with  him ;  and  heartily  wish  that  those  who 
practice  otherwise  would  a  little  better  consider  what  they  do. 
We  know  not  anything  that  such  can  allege  for  their  way, 
seeing  God  hath  furnished  us  with  such  full  supply  of  spiritual 

z2 


34©  BYE- PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

songs  of  His  own  inditing,  and  seeing  there  is  not  any  intima- 
tion in  the  Scriptures  that  it  was  ever  practised  among  the 
people  of  God  of  old." 

Dr.  Russell  on  Allen's  Essay. 

Yet  another  pamphlet  appeared  in  this  somewhat  prolific 
year  of  the  singing  controversy,  1696.  This  time  our  valiant 
old  friend,  Dr.  Russell,  breaks  a  lance  with  Mr.  Richard  Allen. 
He  styles  his  book,  Some  Brief  Animadversions  on  Mr.  Allen's 
Essay.  Mr.  Allen  had  argued  that  "  the  common  practice  of 
singing  with  rhime,  and  conjoint  voices  was  a  Christian  duty," 
and  Dr.  Russell,  being  one  of  the  old  fashioned  General 
Baptists,  who  disbelieved  in  such  singing  altogether,  undertakes 
to  "examine"  Mr.  Allen's  arguments  and  "refute"  them. 
The  book  is  valuable,  if  only  for  the  side-lights  thrown  on 
Baptists  of  that  time,  apart  from  the  special  subject  on  which 
it  treats.  Like  Marlow,  Russell  grieves  over  "  the  late 
tremblers  of  the  denomination,  who  have  introduced  this  new 
human  invention  of  singing  David's  Psalms  in  rhime  and  metre, 
with  conjoint  voices;"  and  also,  like  Marlow,  he  hopes  the  words 
he  addresses  "  to  the  messengers,  elders,  and  brethren  of  the 
baptized  "  churches,  may  be  the  means  of  restoring  union  and 
peace.  He  points  out  the  fact,  that  some  of  the  ministers  who 
endorsed  Mr.  Allen's  Essay,  "and  fixed  their  names  to  it  by 
way  of  approbation,  omit  to  practice  singing  in  their  own  con- 
gregations;" and  declares  that  "Mr.  Reach's,  and  some  other 
congregations  are  the  sole  representatives  of  the  modern  inno- 
vation." It  is  also  a  source  of  grief  that  these  innovators 
"  have  corrupted  some  of  our  young  men  with  this  notion 
of  theirs  about  singing,"  especially  singling  out  one  of  them  by 
name — "that  hopeful  young  branch,  Mr.  Thomas  Harrison." 
The  defection  is  the  more  painful  to  Dr.  Russell,  since  "  his 
(Mr.  Harrison's)  father  was  once  a  parish  minister,  had  his 
eyes  opened  about  singing  in  the  art  of  singing,  and  reyarded 
the  common  way  of  singing  as  will-worship,  as  much  as  Common 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  341 

Prayer  or  infant's  sprinkling;"  and  this  "  indiscreet  action " 
does  not  "  bespeak  that  respect  for  his  father's  memory  which 
he  ought  to  show."  Before  this  "hopeful  young  branch  had 
endorsed  Mr.  Allen's  Essay,'"  he  ought  to  have  been  able  to 
answer  the  grounds  of  his  father's  opinion  to  the  contrary. 
Yet,  he  "  does  not  blame  him  so  much  as  others ;  and,  not- 
withstanding this  slip,  he  has  more  honourable  thoughts  of 
him  than  it  is  proper  here  to  express." 

We  shall  see  presently  how  "young  Mr.  T.  H."  answers 
Dr.  Russell's  public  appeal  to  him.  There  is  also  another 
challenge  to  his  opponents  of  harsh  treatment,  or  at  any  rate, 
"  of  unkindness  to  their  old  servant  who  wrote  the  Queries, 
since  they  have  turned  him  out  of  his  house,  and  taken  all  his 
salary  from  him,  notwithstanding  he  was  one  of  their  own 
members,  and  had  served  them  faithfully,  even  to  old  age,  and 
is  yet  in  communion  with  them."  This  is  also  answered 
by-and-bye. 

Russell  waxes  very  indignant  as  he  thinks  of  the  singing  of 
"  rhimes  by  a  set-form,"  in  baptized  congregations,  and  "  that 
by  all  the  people  together,  whether  saints  or  sinners,  members 
or  no  members,  whether  they  are  young  or  old,  understand  or 
not  understand,  what  is  sung."  It  is  a  "  mere  human  inven- 
tion of  ballad  singing !  "  cries  out  the  irate  doctor.  "  Why,  it 
first  began  with  Clement  Marot,  the  groom  of  the  bedchamber 
of  the  French  King,  Francis  1st.  He  used  to  make  songs  for 
the  king ;  and  was  at  last  prevailed  upon  by  Fr.  Vetablus,  to 
relinquish  his  trifling  doggrel,  and  to  turn  David's  Psalms  into 
French  metre ;  that  he  did  thus  translate  the  first  thirty ;  and 
the  king  sang  them,  as  he  had  done  the  former  ballads.  After 
this,  Beza  and  Calvin  encouraged  Marot,  when  at  Geneva,  to 
turn  more  of  them  into  rhime  ;  and  they  were  then  brought 
into  use  in  their  Assemblies."  If  Mr.  Allen  cannot  bring 
another  instance  of  David's  Psalms  being  translated  into  metre 
in  any  language  before  this  attempt  of  Marot' s,  "  let  him  for- 
bear thus  fooling  with  his  new  method  of  ballad- singing  ;  for  it 


342  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

is  no  better."  Even  self-interest  might  have  some  weight. 
"  Your  ballad-singing  hath  a  tendency  to  your  ruin,  having 
begun  already  to  diminish  your  numbers,  and  two  congrega- 
tions are  obliged  to  unite  into  one  to  keep  up  their  reputation, 
and  supply  that  deficiency  singing  in  rhime  hath  made  in  the 
loss  of  their  members.  A  greater  part  of  your  members  that  re- 
main are  so  dissatisfied,  that  so  soon  as  you  begin  to  tune  your 
pipes,  they  immediately  depart,  like  men  affrighted.''1 

After  declaring,  like  Marlow,  that  there  was  no  rhime  in 
Hebrew ;  and  if  the  Jews  sang,  their  customs  are  not  binding 
upon  us,  Dr.  Russell  bursts  out  into  the  following  rhetorical 
passage  : — "  The  king's  daughter  now  is  all  glorious  within, 
endowed  with  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  is  to 
act  all  her  duties  from  a  principle  of  grace  and  holiness.  She 
needs  no  instruments  of  music  to  stir  her  affections,  nor  any 
flesh-pleasing  tunes,  or  musical  rhimes,  to  make  her  merry ;  for 
the  Spirit  fills  her  with  joy  and  peace  through  believing;  and 
when  He  hath  a  mind  to  glorify  Himself  by  any  outward 
melody,  He  will  not  want  the  assistance  of  our  singers  to  dic- 
tate tunes  to  express  it  by.  And,  indeed,  it  is  strange  they 
should  think  that  no  praise  offered  up  to  God,  in  and  through 
His  Son,  should  please  Him  so  well  as  the  rhimes  of  Hopkins, 
Sternhold,  and  others." 

Allen's  "Vindication." 

Of  course,  Mr.  Allen  very  soon  followed  Dr.  Russell's 
Animadversions,  with  A  Brief  Vindication  of  an  Essay  to  prove 
Singing  of  Psalms,  d\\,  from  Dr.  BusselVs  Animadversions,  and 
Mr.  Marlon's  Bemarks,  dc.  In  fact,  the  three  pamphlets  all 
appeared  in  the  same  year.  Mr.  Allen  hopes,  in  his  "  Address 
to  the  Christian  reader,"  "  if  he  is  a  little  sharp,  it  will  be 
admitted  with  a  candid  interpretation,  considering  the  temper 
of  the  man  with  whom  he  has  to  deal ;  "  and  "  the  five 
champions,"  as  Russell  called  the  men  who  endorsed  Mr. 
Allen's    previous    book    (Joseph    Maisters,    William   Collins, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  343 


Joseph  Stennett,  John  Pigott,  and  Thomas  Harrison)  have 
also  their  "  address  to  the  reader."  They  "see  no  reason  to 
retract  their  words  of  praise."  They  are  "  not  convinced  by 
the  animadverter,  whatever  swelling  words  he  may  use  against 
Mr.  Allen."  They  would  seriously  ask  him,  "  Whether  he  has 
used  his  pen  as  became  a  Christian,  nay,  as  became  a  man  of 
good  sense  and  temper  ;  whether  a  charitable  disposition  of 
mind  would  not  set  him  off  to  better  advantage  than  all  these 
big  pretences  to  a  great  stock  of  reason  and  learning,  the  vain 
and  empty  conceit  of  which,  while  it  prompts  him  to  look 
down  upon  others  with  a  supercilious  scorn,  renders  him,  in 
reality,  an  object  of  pity  than  the  envy  of  those  that  are  truly 
learned  and  ingenious."  Again,  we  say,  these  are  hard  words  ; 
but  harder  follow.  The  "five  champions"  wish  Dr.  Russell 
"  ballast  with  sail,  and  that  his  heart  may  be  as  well  furnished 
as  his  head."  They  are  "troubled  that  he  could  not  satisfy 
his  resentment,  and  blunt  the  edge  of  his  passion  in  striking  at 
their  little  names,  without  profanely  ridiculing  an  ordinance  of 
God ;  and  hope  he  will  beware  of  unsavoury  jests  in  the 
future." 

That  there  was  really  some  ground  for  these  strictures,  Mr. 
Allen  proceeds  to  show.  Dr.  Russell  had  declared  that  Mr. 
Allen  and  his  friends  were  "  guilty  of  adding  to  the  Word  of 
God,"  of  "detracting  from  it,"  of  "dealing  deceitfully  with 
it,"  of  "  using  strategems  to  beguile  the  ignorant  and  the  un- 
stable souls,"  of  "  cheating  English  readers,"  of  "wilfully  or 
ignorantly  opposing  against  the  truth,"  of  "  belieing  the  Son  of 
God,"  and  "of  bringing  a  dreadful  curse  upon  themselves." 
As  for  Beza,  "  he  was  an  old  friend  and  merry  companion," 
"  a  buffoon,  and  common  ballad  maker ; "  and  as  for  Mr.  Allen, 
and  his  friends,  "  they  were  ballad-singers,  and  made  a  noise 
like  madmen." 

Mr.  Allen  then  proceeds  to  note  some  of  the  misconceptions 
of  Dr.  Russell  as  to  his  own  view  of  the  question  in  dispute. 
He  certainly  thinks  that  "it  is  lawful  for  one  voice  alone  to 


344  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

sing  the  praises  of  God ;  but,  in  a  public  assembly,  it  is  much 
more  warrantable  for  the  whole  congregation  to  sing  together 
with  conjoint  voices,  than  for  one  person  to  sing  there  alone  ;  " 
that  he  and  his  friends  "  sing  psalms  in  rhime,  not  as  the  only- 
way,  but  as  the  most  facile  way  to  sing  them  harmoniously;  " 
that  even  "  rhime  and  metre  "  are  not  absolutely  necessary  to 
singing  praises  to  God  in  a  proper  sense,  "  but  the  use  of  the 
voice"  is  necessary.  As  for  the  doctor's  remarks  about 
Hebrew,  he  has  a  good  deal  to  say,  and  quotes  various  passages 
to  show  his  assertions  were  not  without  warrant,  among  others 
the  song  of  Miriam.  He  could  also  justify  the  same  inequality 
of  lines  from  Cowley's  Ode  on  the  Passion  of  Christ,"  and  then 
breaks  out  into  a  little  ode  of  his  own  : — 

"  Alas  !  great  Cowley  !  famous  in  thy  time  ! 
It  now  appears  tliou'st  neither  verse  nor  rhime, 
In  these  unequal  lines,  which  lamely  go — 
Silence  ! — the  Cambridge  doctor  says  'tis  so." 

As  to  the  slander  about  "the  Querist"  being  turned  out  of 
his  house,  Allen  remarks,  "  whereas  his  place  is  conferred 
upon  a  person  as  much  different  from  us  in  the  point  of  singing 
as  himself;  and  the  author  of  the  Queries  well  knows  that  it 
was  not  me,  but  one  nearer  to  himself,  that  was  the  cause  of 
his  being  desired  to  quit  his  lodgings,  of  which  I  suppose  the 
doctor  could  not  be  ignorant." 

Thomas  Harrison  adds  a  postscript  to  Allen's  pamphlet ;  in 
which  he  declares,  that  "  it  cannot  but  touch  me  to  my 
quick  to  be  charged  with  disrespect  to  my  father's  memory. 
I  never  knew  that  a  son's  being  of  a  judgment  different  from 
his  father,  and  publishing  it  to  the  world,  was  inconsistent  to 
his  father's  memory.  I  was  but  just  entered  upon  the  sixth 
year  of  my  age  when  my  honoured  father  exchanged  this  life 
for  a  better ;  so  that  it  is  not  very  probable  that  I  should 
remember  his  instructions  about  singing,  if  he  gave  any ;  and 
seeing  that  he  never  wrote  upon  the  subject,  I  must  needs  be 
unacquainted  with  them."     As  to  his  name  appearing  with  the 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  345 

other  four  to  Mr.  Allen's  pamphlet,  "  no  man  asked  me  but 
Mr.  Allen.  I  did  not  speak  with  the  others  about  it.  I  needed 
no  persuasion  ;  but  subscribed  freely,  and  see  now  no  cause  to 
repent." 

Allen  adds  a  second  postscript,  in  which,  after  showing  that 
he  also  went  to  the  same  Jews  as  Marlow,  and  got  a  somewhat 
different  answer,  they  contending  for  equal  feet  as  rhyme,  and 
he  that  it  meant  like  sounds  at  the  end  of  the  lines  ;  and  firing 
a  farewell  shot  at  Dr.  Russell,  as  agreeing  with  "  Julian,  the 
apostate,  who  was  the  only  opposer  among  the  ancients  of  the 
statement  about  the  Psalms  rhyming,"  he  concludes,  with 
words  of  charity  and  hope  :  "  As  we  believe  our  brethren  that 
neglect  singing  the  praise  of  God  live  (through  mistake),  in  the 
omission  of  that  which  is  to  us  an  undoubted  duty,  yet  we  are 
willing  to  bear  lovingly  with  them  till  they  are  further  enlightened  ; 
so  we  hope,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Marlow' s  suggestion  about  the 
ejection  of  all  such  ministers,  that  they  will  also  walk  lovingly 
and  peaceably  with  us  as  brethren." 

There  is  a  third  postscript  from  W.  Collins,  "  to  the  Chris- 
tian reader."  This  explains  how  a  passage  which  had  been 
falsely  translated,  came  to  appear.  Collins  lays  the  blame  on 
the  printer's  overseer,  who  altered  the  translation  himself,  on 
his  own  responsibility  ;  and  Collins  demanding  that  the  leaf  on 
which  the  misrendering  occurs  should  be  reprinted  and  inserted 
in  the  end.  Marlow  still  repeated  his  charge,  and  Collins 
brought  the  matter  before  an  Assembly  of  elders  and  mes- 
sengers of  the  Devonshire-square  meeting,  when,  Marlow 
having  nothing  to  say  in  defence,  was  condemned.  Dr.  Russell 
is  also  charged  with  repeating  the  slander,  since  Marlow's  dis- 
comfiture ;  "  but,"  says  Collins,  with  some  heat,  "  a  man  that 
favours  his  (Russell's)  notions,  although  a  vile  blasphemer,  as 
Servetus,  or  a  popishly-affected  doctor  (Wilson),  shall  have  his 
high  enconiums;  but  he  that  opposeth  him,  in  the  least  degree, 
must  expect  a  dose  of  his  most  churlish  physick.  The  Lord 
forgive  him,  and  such  as  walk  in  his  steps." 


346  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

Claridge's  Reply  to  Allen. 

The  following  year,  Richard  Claridge,  a  new  combatant 
enters  the  arena.  Claridge  was  once  rector  of  Poppleton, 
Warwickshire  ;  and,  adopting  Baptist  sentiments,  was  baptized 
in  1691,  at  Bromsgrove.  He  settled  in  London  as  the  pastor 
of  Bagnio-court  church,  afterwards  removed  to  Currier's  Hall, 
better  known  as  the  Cripplegate  meeting.  He  was  a  man  of 
considerable  learning,  as  his  pamphlet  shows.  After  a  short 
time  Claridge  became  a  Quaker.  His  Answer  to  Richard  Ai 
Essay,  Vindication,  and  Appendix  was  at  first  approved  by 
Steed  and  Marlow;  but  greatly  altering  "the  copy"  be- 
fore it  appeared,  these  unmusical  brethren  withdrew  their 
endorsement,  and  as  a  consequence  only  eight  sheets  out  of  the 
twenty  were  printed.  A  single  citation,  his  objection  to  angels 
singing,  is  all  we  we  can  find  space  to  give : — "  This  is  a  dark 
region  our  souls  are  now  in  ;  and  we  know  but  very  little  of  the 
state  and  employment  of  the  heavenly  angels.  That  they  are 
glorious  spirits,  and  do  continually  adore  and  magnify  God, 
the  Holy  Scriptures  inform  us  ;  but  that  they  praise  Him  with 
vocal  singing,  the  Sacred  Records  are  not  only  silent,  but  it  is 
also  work  incompetent  to  spirits,  as  such,  who  are  incorporeal 
beings,  and  so  incapable,  through  the  defects  of  proper  external 
organs,  of  a  vocal  celebration  of  His  adorable  perfections." 

How  many  other  pamphlets  on  the  subject  of  singing  were 
issued  after  this  period,  it  is  not  easy  to  discover.  But  the 
practice  of  congregational  singing  was  still  advocated  hj  many 
ministers  long  before  the  churches  were  willing  to  adopt  it. 
William  Collins  tried  hard  to  introduce  it  into  the  church  at 
Petty  France,  in  1698,  but  without  effect ;  yet  after  Mr. 
Collins'  death,  in  1702,  the  attempt  was  renewed  by  his 
successor  with  better  success  ;  although  a  division  was  occa- 
sioned by  it,  and  the  seceders  went  off"  to  Turner's  Hall,  and 
invited  Ebenezer  Wilson,  from  Bristol,  to  be  their  minister. 
This  is  the  history  of  other  churches  in  London,  and  elsewhere, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  347 

at  least   among   the  Particular  Baptists;   but  the  records  of 
many  of  these  struggles  have  not  been  preserved.0 

General  Baptists  and  Singing. 

The  General  Baptists  continued  to  oppose  congregational 
singing  for  a  still  longer  period  than  their  Calvinistic  brethren, 
Grantham's  opinions  and  influence  were  still  predominant  until 
so  late  as  1733.  Before  the  controversy  fairly  began  among 
the  Particular  Baptists,  it  was  thought  needful  by  the  General 
Baptist  Assembly  in  1689  "  to  consider  the  question  of  promis- 
cuous singing  Psalms,  either  the  whole  together,  or  they  in  con- 
junction with  those  who  were  not  of  their  communion."  The 
record  of  the  case  is  very  curious,  and  throws  some  little  further 
light  on  the  matter.  "  The  persons  holding  the  affirmative  in 
this  question  were  desired  to  show  the  Assembly  what  Psalms 
they  made  use  of  for  the  matter,  and  what  rules  they  did  settle 
upon,  for  the  manner."  There  was  thereupon  produced,  "  not 
the  metres  composed  by  Messrs.  Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  but  a 
book  of  metres  composed  by  one  Mr.  Barton,  and  the  rules  pro- 
duced to  sing  these  Psalms  as  set  down  secunclem  artem  ;  viz., 
as  the  musicians  do  sing  according  to  their  gamut, — Sol,  fa,  la, 
my,  ray,  &c,  &c. ;  which  appeared  so  strangely  foreign  to  the 
evangelical  worship  that  it  was  not  conceived  anywise  safe  for 
the  churches  to  admit  such  carnal  formalities ;  but  to  rest  satis- 
fied in  this,  till  we  can  see  something  more  perfect  in  this  case, 
that  as  prayer  of  one  in  the  church  is  the  prayer  of  the  whole,  as 
a  church,  so  the  singing  of  one  in  the  church  is  the  singing  of  the 
whole  church  ;  and  as  he  that  prayeth  in  the  church  is  to  perform 

*  A  pious  and  aged  -woman  once  visited  Dr.  Gill,  to  relieve  her  mind  of  her 
great  trouble.  It  came  out  that  her  grief  arose  from  a  new  tune  which  the 
clerk  of  Carter-lane  had  just  introduced.  "  Sister,"  asked  Dr.  Gill,  "  do  you 
understand  singing?"  "No,  sir."  "What?  can't  you  sing?"  "No,  sir." 
The  doctor,  dealing  gently  with  her  on  account  of  her  age,  rejoined,  "  Sister, 
Avhat  tunes  should  you  like  to  sing  ?  "  "  Why,  sir,  I  should  very  much  like 
to  sing  David's  tunes."'  "Well,"  said  Dr.  Gill,  "if  you  can  get  David's  tunes, 
we  will  try  to  sing  them ! " 


348  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

the  service  as  of  the  ability  which  God  giveth,  even  so,  he  that 
singing  praises  in  the  church  ought  to  perform  that  service  as  of 
the  ability  received  of  God  ;  that  as  a  mournful  voice  becomes 
the  duty  of  prayer,  so  a  joyful  voice,  with  gravity,  becomes  the 
duty  of  praising  God  with  a  song  in  the  Church  of  God."  This 
opinion  was  endorsed  "  with  the  general  approbation  of  the 
Assembly." 

Nearly  fifty  years  after  this,  that  is,  in  1733,  a  case  was  pre- 
sented to  the  General  Assembly  of  the  General  Baptists  from 
Northamptonshire,  complaining  "  that  some  churches  in  their 
district  among  the  General  Baptists  had  fallen  into  the  way  of 
singing  the  Psalms  of  David,  or  other  men's  composures,  with 
tunable  notes,  and  a  mixed  multitude  ;  which  way  of  singing," 
say  the  complainants,  ''appears  to  us  wholly  unwarrantable 
from  the  Word  of  God."  The  Northamptonshire  Association 
want  to  know  whether  the  General  Assembly  look  upon  this  as 
"a  thing  indifferent,"  or  whether  they  "  disapprove  of  it,  and 
use  any  means  to  bring  men  off  from  it."  To  them  it  appears 
"an  innovation."  The  [Assembly  confessed,  "that  though 
some  very  few  practise  singing  in  a  manner  different  from  us  in 
the  general,"  yet  that  that  was  not  a  sufficient  reason  for  their 
exclusion.  There  did  not  appear,  in  the  Assembly's  judgment, 
any  clear  statement  in  Scripture  about  the  manner  of  singing, 
although  singing  itself  is  frequently  mentioned.  They  would 
that  all  were  of  one  mind ;  "  but  as  the  weakness  of  human 
understanding  is  such  that  things  appear  in  different  lights  to 
different  persons,  such  a  concord  is  rather  to  be  desired  than 
expected  in  this  world."  They  were,  therefore,  unwilling, 
either  to  dispute  the  question,  or  to  impose  their  opinion  and 
practise  upon  others. 

On  the  commencement  of  the  Eighteenth  Century  congre- 
gational singing  was  at  a  low  ebb  in  this  country,  even  in  the 
Establishment.  One  writer  declares  that  many  church  choirs 
had  only  half  a  dozen  tunes,  or  fewer,  from  which  to  select ; 
and  as  for  "  our  quality    and  gentry,"  says  Nathaniel  Tate, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  349 

"you  may  hear  them  in  the  responses,  and  reading-psalms; 
but  the  giving  out  of  a  singing-psalm  seems  to  strick  them 
dumb."  A  better  version  of  the  Psalms,*  and  a  larger  and  more 
varied  stock  of  tunes,  soon  led  to  a  change  in  this  matter. 
Nor  were  the  Dissenters  unaffected  by  these  improvements. 
Men  were  everywhere  asking  "  whether  harmony  in  their 
voices  would  fright  grace  from  their  hearts  ?  or  whether 
singing  out  of  tune  was  making  melody  unto  the  Lord  ?" 
The  answer  was  found  in  the  increasing  attention  which  was 
everywhere  paid  to  psalmody,  and  in  the  ready  acceptance,  by 
Baptists  among  the  rest,  of  the  excellent  hymns  written  by 
men  of  different  churches,  which  very  soon  became  the  common 
property  of  Christians  of  every  name. 

*  The  following  story  illustrates  the  prejudice  of  the  illiterate  against  any 
New  Versions.  The  Bishop  of  Ely  told  Mr.  Tate  that  on  first  using  Dr. 
Patrick's  New  Version  at  family  worship,  he  observed  that  a  servant  maid,  who 
possessed  a  musical  voice,  was  silent  for  several  days  together.  He  asked  her 
the  reason  ;  whether  she  were  not  well,  or  had  a  cold  ?  adding,  that  he  was 
much  delighted  to  hear  her,  because  she  sung  so  sweetly,  and  kept  the  rest 
in  tune.  "I  am  well  enough  in  health,"  she  answered,  "and  have  no  cold. 
But  if  you  must  needs  know  the  plain  truth  of  the  matter,  as  long  as  you  sing 
Jesus  Christ's  Psalms  I  sung  along  with  ye ;  but  now  you  sing  Psalms  of  your 
own  invention,  you  may  sing  by  yourselves  ! " 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Minister's  Clubs. 

"  A  CLUB,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  is  an  assembly  of  good 
-xTJL  fellows,  met  under  certain  conditions."  Now  while 
we  should  be  sorry  to  say  that  the  clubs  of  Baptist  ministers 
which  existed  in  London  in  the  days  of  Queen  Anne  and  the 
first  of  the  Georges  were  not  exclusively  composed  of  "  good 
fellows  ;"  yet  their  object  in  meeting  differed  entirely  from  the 
ordinary  clubs  of  that  period.  Clubs  were  then  founded  for 
almost  every  conceivable  object — innocent  and  infamous,  foolish 
and  laudable.  It  was  the  age  of  clubs,  and  Baptist  ministers 
were  not  the  only  staid  and  sober  people,  nor  the  only 
ministers,  who  founded  such  societies,  or  boards.  The  Baptist 
ministers'  club,  like  the  other  clubs  of  dissenting  ministers, 
was  rather  a  periodical  meeting  at  some  convenient  place  for 
the  transaction  of  local  or  denominational  business,  tban  a 
club  in  the  ordinary  meaning  of  the  terrm  Perhaps  the  chief 
points  of  resemblance  between  their  clubs  and  others  of  that 
a^e  were  these  :  they  met  weekly  or  monthly  at  some  re- 
spectable coffee-house  ;  they  balloted  for  new  members  ;  they 
decided  that  "  no  person  should  be  introduced  to  their  meetings 
who  was  known  to  be  disagreeable  to  any  member  of  it ; "  and 
they  usually  ended  their  meetings,  when  the  graver  business 
was  ended,  in  pleasant  social  chat.     One  item,  in  regard  to  the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  351 

rent  of  the  room  in  which  some  of  these  clubs  met,  tells  its 
own  tale.  The  rent  had  been  four  guineas  per  annum ;  but  it 
was  agreed  to  pay  sixteen  shillings  more,  "  in  consideration  of 
the  rise  in  tobacco." 

The  earliest  society,  or  club,  of  Calvinistic  Baptist  ministers, 
of  which  we  have  any  record,  was  already  organised,  and  in 
full  working  order  in  1714  ;  but  how  long  it  had  been  in  exis- 
tence does  not  appear.  It  met  weekly  at  the  Hanover  Coffee- 
house, Finch-lane,  London.*  In  these  days  of  "  union,"  it  is 
worth  noting  that  the  business,  about  which  the  club  was 
chiefly  occupied  in  1714,  was  how  to  secure  a  closer  fellowship 
between  the  Particular  and  the  General  Baptist  ministers.  The 
General  Baptists  had  been  somewhat  ruffled  in  temper  because 
the  ministers  of  the  Particular  Baptists  were  the  sole  represen- 
tatives of  the  Baptist  denomination  present  at  the  meetings  of 
the  Deputies  of  the  Three  Denominations.  The  cause  of  offence 
was  speedily  removed  ;  and  the  question  of  still  closer  union, 
or,  as  the  club  expressed  it,  "  a  better  correspondence,"  imme- 
diately sprang  up."  The  minister's  society  at  the  Hanover 
Coffee-house  warmly  advocated  this  "  better  correspondence," 
and  it  was  agreed  to  hold  a  united  monthly  meeting  of  the 
elders  or  pastors  of  both  sections  of  the  denomination.  Crosby 
tells  us  that  this  fair  promise  brought  little  fruit,  and  offers  his 
own  explanation  of  the  cause.  "  The  union  was  the  result  of 
ecclesiastics  only,  who  are  rarely  found  to  be  good  politicians. 
Had  they  joined  with  themselves  one  or  two  from  each  of  their 
churches  of  the  most  prudent  and  moderate  laity,  I  doubt  not  but 
the  glorious  harmony  and  good  correspondence  would  have  been 
continued  now.  [Crosby  is  writing  in  1740.]  Let  them  but 
try  the  experiment.  The  whole  Baptist  interest  united  in  such 
a  manner  must  consequently  tend  very  much  to  its  reputation 
and  increase."     This  explanation  is  termed  by  Rev.  J.  Ivimey, 

*  There  was  at  this  period  another  board  or  club,  of  ministers  which  met 
at  the  British  Coffee-house,  London,  with  which  the  Baptist  Board  occa- 
sionally met  for  the  transaction  of  business  common  to  them  both. 


352  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

"  laconic."  He  is  evidently  disposed  to  question  whether  the 
fact  of  the  union  being  "one  of  ecclesiastics  only,"  was  the 
sole  cause  of  the  decline  and  ultimate  cessation  of  these  united 
monthly  meetings.  "  Mr.  Crosby  was  a  member  and  a  deacon 
of  the  church  in  which  Mr.  Benjamin  Stinton,  brother-in-law 
to  Mr.  Crosby,  had  succeeded  their  excellent  father-in-law, 
Mr.  Benjamin  Reach.  He  (Crosby)  might  be  one  of  -  the  most 
prudent  and  moderate  of  the  laity ; '  and  everybody  knows  that 
prudence  and  moderation  in  a  deliberating  assembly  are  always 
valuable,  and,  it  cannot  be  denied,  have  sometimes  been 
greatly  needed,  not  only  by  ecclesiastics,  but  even  by  laymen, 
notwithstanding  they  may  have  considered  themselves  good 
politicians."0 

The  next  notice  of  the  club  reveals  it  in  a  different  character. 
It  is  appealed  to  by  the  French  Protestant  ministers  who  had  been 
living  in  London  since  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
(Oct.  24,  1685) ;  and  from  the  tone  of  their  appeal,  we  find 
that  this  society  was  then  regarded  as  the  customary  channel 
of  communicating  with  the  Baptist  churches  in  the  Metropolis. 
The  character  of  the  letter,  and  the  venerable  age  of  the 
writers,  give  it  an  unusual  interest. 


*CV 


"  To  the  Reverend  and  most  Honoured  Brethren,  the  Pastors  and  Ministers 
of  the  Baptist  congregations. 

"  The  French  rninistei\s,  banished  from  their  native  land  for  the  cause  of 
then-  holy  religion,  humbly  represent  to  you  that  in  the  year  1696,  the  Court 
having  suspended  for  some  time  the  subsistence  which  used  to  be  granted 
them,  they  were  obliged  to  apply  themselves  to  the  charity  of  their  most 
honoured  brethren,  the  ministers  of  the  baptized  churches,  who  kindly  helped 
them  in  their  necessities.  At  present  being  afflicted  with  the  same  or  greater 
necessities  than  ever,  by  having  been  forsaken  for  the  last  two  years  and  a 
half  of  the  Queen's  reign,  and  a  year  and  a  half  of  King  George's,  they  take 
the  liberty  again  to  implore  your  Christian  and  brotherly  assistance,  humbly 
beseeching  you,  if  there  is  any  consolation  in  Christ,  if  any  comfort  of  charity, 
if  any  communion  of  spirit,  if  any  cordial  affections,  you  would  complete  your 
joy  in  assisting  us  in  such  a  manner  as  your  piety  and  charity  should  think 
proper.      Our  age  and  continued  infirmities  warning  us  even*  day  of  our 

*  Ivimey's  History  of  English  Baptists,  vol.  iii.,  p.  113. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  353 


approaching  end,  give  us  just  cause  to  believe  that  this  will  be  the  last  time 
that  we  shall  address  you,  at  least,  in  the  like  case.  In  the  meanwhile  we 
pray  the  Almighty  to  bless  your  persons,  your  families,  and  your  churches 
with  all  blessings,  temporal  and  eternal,  which  are  the  ardent  and  sincere 
prayers  of 

" Bacox,  77  years  old, 

"  Francis  Grouguet,  74  years  old, 
"  John  James  Salixhac,  82  years  old, 
"  Samuel  Vehard,  84  years  old. 
u  Witness,  Moxs.  Gomare, 
;' London,  July  oO,  1716." 

The  appeal  was  not  made  in  vain. 

The  same  year  the  Board  itself  sent  a  letter  to  the  whole 
of  the  Baptist  churches  in  London  about  the  re-building  of  the 
old  baptistery  at  Horsleydown.  For  some  years  this  was  the 
only  baptistery  in  London,  and  was  in  common  use  by  all  the 
churches.  As  the  metropolis  increased,  and  the  churches 
became  more  numerous  and  more  widely  scattered,  it  was  felt 
that  one  baptistery  was  no  longer  sufficient.  Moreover,  the 
old  one  was  not  central  enough  for  the  majority  of  the  London 
churches,  and  was  far  too  small  to  accommodate  with  comfort 
the  many  spectators  that  were  now  usually  present.  A  new 
baptistery  had  therefore  been  constructed  in  the  Barbican 
Chapel,  the  larger  part  of  the  expense  being  defrayed  by  Mr. 
Thomas  and  Mr.  John  Hollis,  well  known  for  their  benefac- 
tions, both  in  England  and  America.  This  baptistery,  how- 
ever, was  only  available  to  those  approved  ministers  who  had 
received  a  certificate  from  the  Messrs.  Hollis.  A  register  was 
kept  of  the  names  of  the  persons  baptized  on  each  occasion, 
and  also  of  the  administrators.  There  was  a  charge  of  two 
shillings  per  candidate,  for  the  use  of  the  baptistery,  the  suits 
of  apparel  for  the  persons  baptized,  and  for  attendance.  In 
1717  the  original  baptistery  at  Horsleydown  was  enlarged, 
and  new  dressing-rooms  built.  The  place  was  licensed,  accord- 
ing to  the  Act  of  Toleration,  secured  by  trustees  for  the  use  of 
the  churches  which  had  become  proprietors  by  their  contribu- 
tions, and  continued  in  use  for  more  than  sixty  years  afterwards. 

A  A 


354  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

In  March,  1717,  the  Board  was  busily  occupied  with  another 
subject. — a  projected  public  dispute  between  the  Baptists  and 
Quakers  at  Burton,  Northamptonshire.  The  more  thoughtful 
and  observant  men  in  London  of  both  parties,  sought  to  dis- 
suade them  from  it,  partly  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state 
of  the  country,  and  a  then  threatened  invasion,  and  partly 
"  because  several  disaffected  persons  would  have  been  glad  of 
the  least  occasion  to  represent  the  peaceable  Dissenters  as 
fomenters  of  tumults  and  disorders."  A  joint  letter  was 
accordingly  sent  by  them  to  the  disputants,  but  without  pro- 
ducing the  slightest  result.  The  debate  was  held  in  the 
presence  of  a  great  crowd  of  listeners.  Much  excitement 
prevailed.  At  the  close  of  the  day  many  points  still  remained 
to  be  discussed,  and  a  second  day's  debate  was  appointed. 
Meanwhile,  the  Baptists  in  Burton,  feeling  that  they  were 
overmatched  in  the  first  day's  dispute,  determined  to  secure 
the  help  of  a  celebrated  General  Baptist  minister  of  that  day, 
Rev.  Dr.  John  Gale,  of  London.  Before  accepting  their  invita- 
tion ''to  assist  them  in  vindicatiDg  their  principles,"  Dr.  Gale 
submitted  their  request  to  the  Baptist  Board,  at  the  Hanover 
Coffee  House.  Their  opinion  being  still  unchanged  about  the 
condition  of  the  country,  and  the  impropriety  of  then  holding 
such  a  debate,  a  second  conference  was  sought  with  the  lead- 
ing Friends  in  London,  and  a  second  joint  letter,  more  earnest 
and  emphatic  than  the  first,  signed  by  five  members  of  the 
Board  and  five  Quakers,  was  forwarded  to  the  angry  disputants. 
As  Dr.  Gale  was  one  of  the  five  Baptists  who  subscribed  to  the 
letter,  it  came,  at  least  to  one  party,  with  the  greater  weight. 
"  Though  we  hope  we  have,"  say  the  writers,  "  the  same  zeal 
for  our  principles,  and  love  for  whatever  we  have  embraced  of 
the  truth,  as  any  of  our  brethren,  yet  we  think  such  public 
disputes  do  not  tend  to  promote  it,  they  being  usually  followed 
with  very  ill  consequences,  as  well  as  that  the  present  state  of 
public  affairs  renders  them  at  this  time  more  especially  un- 
seasonable."    Nay,   the  very  debate   already  held   shows   the 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  355 

mischief  created  :  "  some  on  both  sides  are  grown  hot,  which," 
the  writers  of  the  letter,  "  fear,  if  not  watched  against,  will 
destroy  mutual  love,  arise  to  strife  and  envy,  be  a  means  to 
exasperate  those  who  are  of  a  different  persuasion  from  us, 
give  a  handle  to  the  enemies  of  both  to  misrepresent  us  to 
the  Government,  and  at  last  end  in  an  un-Christian  strife  and 
trouble."  Both  parties  are  therefore  entreated  to  seek  "other 
methods  which  will  be  less  offensive,  and  more  informing  to 
those  who  are  in  search  of  the  truth."  This  letter  constrained 
both  parties,  although  with  evident  reluctance,  to  relinquish 
their  adjourned  debate. 

Unfortunately  the  records  of  this  earlier  club  have  been  lost, 
so  that  we  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  when  the  Society 
was  dissolved.  In  Jan.  1723,  a  second  club  of  ministers  was 
founded,  mainly  of  those  who  composed  the  first,  and  the 
Gloucester  Coffee-house  was  selected  as  the  place  of  meeting. 
They  also  met  at  Blackwell's  Coffee-house,  and  occasionally  at 
the  King's  Head,  St.  Swithin's-alley,  and  Cole's  Coffee-house. 
At  the  outset  the  club  met  every  Monday  afternoon  at  three 
o'clock ;  but  six  years  after  it  was  founded  this  was  changed  to 
Tuesday.  On  that  day  (and  this  was  probably  one  of  the 
reasons  for  the  alteration),  a  wealthy  calico-printer,  a  member 
of  the  church  in  Currier's  Hall,  usually  had  an  open  table  for 
the  ministers  of  the  "Three  Denominations,"  or  '•  General  Body 
of  Ministers,  founded  in  1727."  After  an  early  dinner,  the 
ministers  adjourned  to  their  respective  clubs.  The  Gloucester 
Coffee-house  club  levied  a  fine  of  twopence  on  every  late 
comer,  or  absentee,  "  the  majority  of  the  watches  present 
to  determine  "  the  first  point.  One  can  see  the  sober  brethren, 
all  watch-in-hand,  ready  to  rebuke  the  late  comer,  and  mulct 
him  in  the  customary  fine. 

The  business  of  the  Board  at  the  Gloucester  Coffee-house 
was  conducted  with  the  greatest  regularity,  largely  owing  to 
the  admirable  tact  of  Mr.  John  Noble,  who  frequently  occupied 
the  chair.     On  his  death  (12th  June,  1730),  Dr.  Sayer  Rudd, 

a  a2 


356  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

still  a  member  of  the  Board,  broke  out  into  ''An  Elegiac  Essay," 
in  which  he  expressed,  not  his  own  sentiments  alone,  but  thoso 
of  all  his  brethren.  We  give  a  few  lines  from  it  as  a  fair  sample 
of  the  rest : — 

u  Now,  Zion,  bid  thy  lucid  fountains  flow, 
Stream  with  tears,  and  give  a  loose  to  woo. 
No  common  sorrows  suit  a  widow'd  state  ; 
Great  as  our  losses  should  our  grief  be  great. 
Fallen  is  a  prince  in  Israel  to-day  ; 
Noble,  alas!  resolved  to  native  clay. 
Noble,  the  heavenly  messenger  no  more  ! 
Strain  every  nerve,  and  weep  at  every  pore !  " 

From  the  nature  of  the  business  transacted,  we  are  not  far 
wrong  in  saying  that  this  club  grew  into  a  kind  of  London 
Baptist  Synod  of  Elders  always  sitting.  The  disputes  which 
arose  between  one  church  and  another  were  referred  to  the 
club  for  solution.  Each  applicant,  from  the  respect  in  which 
the  Board  was  held,  commonly  accepting  as  final  their  decision. 
Country  churches  seeking  pecuniary  aid  in  rebuilding  their 
chapels,  or  removing  existing  debts,  first  appealed  for  sanction 
to  the  Board.  Among  this  number  are  some  churches,  that, 
from  their  present  position  and  comparative  wealth,  one  would 
hardly  expect  to  find.  There  are,  for  example,  Harvey-lane, 
Leicester;  College-lane,  Northampton;  Nottingham;  Plymouth, 
and  many  others.  In  one  case,  the  Board  gives  very  emphatic 
advice  :  "  Some  brethren  coming  from  Woodbridge  about 
building  a  meeting-house,  were  advised  to  be  more  modest  in  their 
demands  ;  and  were  promised  all  the  assistance  the  brethren 
could  give  personally,  although  they  could  not  make  collections 
in  their  churches."  Sometimes  the  applications  of  this  kind 
came  so  thick  and  fast  that  the  Board  had  to  declare,  "  That 
they  could  attend  to  no  more  applications  for  that  year."  In 
August  17o7,  one  application  was  advised  to  be  withdrawn, 
owing  to  "the  number  of  the  like  this  year  already;"  but  it 
was  further  agreed,  "if  the  case  appeared  to  us  in  the  same 
light  next  spring,  to  give  it  the  precedence  of  any  other,  and 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  357 


encourage  it  as  far  we  can."  In  July,  1739,  the  people  at 
Malmsbury  wanted  to  collect  money  for  their  projected  chapel, 
but  the  Board  argued,  "  that  it  was  not  advisable  to  proceed  at 
this  time  ;  but  that  it  would  be  best  to  come  up  to  town  about 
February  next"  promising,  in  the  meanwhile,  to  recommend  no 
other  case.  The  church  at  Evershall  asked,  in  1742,  for  "help 
in  building  a  meeting-place  ;  and  were  told,  "  that  it  would  be 
next  considered  when  the  people  of  Beccles  have  finished."  Other 
applications  were  arranged  according  to  their  merit.  "Wisbech 
was  told  in  August  in  1762,  "  that  its  case  should  be  received 
in  its  turn,  and  a  church  in  Monmouthshire  were  assured  in 
November,  "  that  their  turn  would  be  after  the  people  of 
Wisbech."  But  at  length,  owing  to  the  increasing  number  of 
"  good  cases  brought  before  them,  the  club  decided  unanimously 
(this  was  in  1760),  that  no  more  cases  relating  to  the  building 
or  repairing  of  meeting-houses  be  received  and  recommended 
by  this  Board."  They  must  have  rescinded  this  resolution, 
since,  in  1767,  there  were  no  less  than  thirteen  cases  "recom- 
mended in  their  order ." 

Great  jealousy  was  exercised  over  the  life  and  opinions  of 
its  members.  The  faithful  records  chronicle  both  the  names 
and  the  offences  of  men  who  were  reproved  or  excluded. 
One  minister  was  told  "  to  humble  himself  before  the  church  " 
of  which  he  was  pastor;  "  and  to  give  fresh  assurances  that 
he  would  relinquish"  the  offence  with  which  he  was  charged. 
"If  he  does  not  like  the  advice,"  say  the  Board,  "  let  him 
leave  the  people  peaceably."  Another  was  charged,  not  only 
with  being  "unsound  in  the  faith,"  but  with  "being  guilty 
of  lying  in  the  pulpit,  because  he  laid  down  sometimes  three  or  four 
heads,  and  promised  to  speak  to  them,  and  yet  never  explained  or 
insisted  on  any  of  them."  Neither  charges  were  regarded  by 
the  Board  as  substantiated,  and  the  complainants  were  urged  to 
"  show  a  more  Gospel  spirit."  A  third  minister,  after  explaining 
his  case,  "  was  desired  to  stay  another  year  with  his  people, 
and   trust   to    Providence."      A   fourth   item  is   unexplained. 


58  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

"  Mr.  desired  the  ministers  to  interpose  for  his  liberty; 

they  answered  :  If  he  would  <jiue  the  gentlewoman  reasonable 
satisfaction  to  trouble  her  no  further  on  tJtat  head,  thev  would 
endeavour  his  discharge."  Ministers  are  rebuked  "  for  being 
in  disorder,"  that  is,  preaching,  although  they  had  not  been 
regularly  "called  out"  by  any  church;  and  before  they  are 
admitted  into  the  Board,  "  acknowledged  their  disorder,"  and 
conformed  to  the  accepted  custom.  The  members  of  the  Board 
duly  announced  when  young  men  were  "  called  out  by  the 
churches,  and  had  publicly  preached.  In  these  cases  they 
were  permitted  by  vote  to  sit  with  them  at  the  Board."  The 
Board  appoints  ministers  to  take  part  in  ordinations,  and 
delays  some  until  they  themselves  are  satisfied ;  or  flatly 
refuses  to  take  any  part  in  the  service,  if  they  think  there 
is  reason  to  demur.  They  also  receive  a  humble  submis- 
sion from  churches  "who  are  sensible  of  their  disorder 
as  to  their  present  ministry ;  "  and  when  the  obnoxious 
preacher  is  "  dismissed,  they  will  give  them  assistance  and 
encouragement."  Meanwhile,  "  they  are  to  attend  for  fur- 
ther advice"  the  following  month.  They  listen  to  appeals 
from  churches,  asking  the  Board  "  to  help  them  to  a 
minister;  "  but  before  complying,  the  "Board  wishes  to  know 
what  encouragement  they  can  give  him,  and  what  they  can 
raise,  in  case  such  an  one  should  ofier."  They  adjusted  dif- 
ferences to  the  best  of  their  ability,  between  ministers  and 
people,  and  took  special  pains  to  correct  the  impression  "  that 
they  were  against  encouraging  ministerial  gifts  in  the  church." 
On  one  occasion  they  were  complained  of  "  for  stretching  their 
ministerial  authority;"  but  they  answer,  that  "they  only  gave 
advice  agreeable  to  the  desire  of  the  applicants."  On  another, 
they  had  "a  highly  abusive  letter"  sent  to  them  by  an 
offending  member,  to  which  they  replied  with  becoming  meek- 
ness. At  the  beginning  of  Feb.  1734,  the  two  Rudds,  John 
and  Saver,  on  account  of  their  anti- Trinitarian  opinions, 
"  were  no  longer  admitted  to  sit  as  members  of  the   socit. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  359 

They  had  said  "  that  the  Trinitarian  doctrine  appears  to  them 
to  be  entirely  humane,  consisting  of  words  and  phrases  of  men's 
own  inventing,  which  are  nowhere  to  be  met  with  in  Scripture  ; 
such  as,  three  persons  and  one  Divine  Essence."  Dr.  Sayer 
Rudd  did  not  let  the  matter  rest,  but  published  several  letters 
on  the  subject  to  what  he  styled  "  the  venerable  Board."  In 
the  first  he  remonstrated,  and  offered  certain  "  proposals  for 
accommodation."  To  this  letter  a  brief  minute  confirming  the 
previous  vote  was  the  only  response.  He  next  published  what 
were  designated  by  him  Impartial  Reflections  on  the  minute 
received  in  answer  to  his  first  letter.  Then  followed  an 
elaborate  address,  entitled,  "  A  Third  Letter  to  the  Reverend 
the  Ministers  of  the  Calvinistic  Board,  occasioned  by  their  un- 
charitable, as  well  as  false  insinuations  concerning  the  author's 
application  to  the  Quakers,  and  his  attempts  at  conformity  to 
the  National  Church.  In  which  likewise  are  found  his  reasons 
for  making  a  tour  to  Paris,  and  his  leaving  the  congregation  at 
Devonshire  Square  on  his  return."  Of  course  there  is  a  good 
deal  of  personal  bitterness  in  this  letter,  but  there  is  also 
enough  evidence  to  show  that  the  Baptist  Board  then  exercised 
a  lordship  over  individual  consciences  which  would  not  now 
be  tolerated  for  a  single  hour. 

More  than  half  a  century  after  the  expulsion  of  Dr.  Rudd, 
the  Board  very  gravely  discussed  certain  things  that  had  been 
said  by  Mr.  Martin,  "  a  member  of  the  Society,"  in  a  sermon 
preached  in  Broad  Street  Chapel,  London.  The  first  French 
Revolution  was  then  disturbing  Europe,  and  the  old  craze 
about  "  the  French  invasion"  was  agitating  men's  minds. 
"  Perhaps  some  of  }Tou  will  say,"  said  Mr.  Martin,  in  the 
passage  complained  of,  "  I  fear  the  French  will  come  ?  Well; 
what  if  they  do  ?  What  then  ?  If  Christ  is  your  life,  what 
have  you  to  fear  ?  You  will  say,  Some  of  your  Denomination 
will  join  them.  I  believe  they  will.  '  Baptized  infidels,  worse 
for  mending,  d'c.'  Perhaps  some  of  you  will  say,  Some  of  the 
Paedobaptists  will  join  them.     I  believe  they  will."     On  wait- 


360  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

ing  to  see  the  sermon  in  print,  and  finding  that  the  report 
was  "  not  overcharged,"  the  Board  agreed  unanimously  that, 
to  the  best  of  their  knowledge  and  belief,  Mr.  Martin's  repre- 
sentations did  not  apply  to  any  individual  in  any  Protestant 
Dissenting  churches  ;  that  not  being  founded  in  fact,  these 
statements  were  highly  calumnious  ;  and  that  therefore  Mr. 
Martin  be  no  longer  considered  a  member  of  their  Society." 

In  1765  the  Board  met  at  the  Jamaica  Coffee  House,  and 
continued  to  hold  their  meetings  at  this  place  for  more  than 
sixty  years.  One  of  the  latest  entries  in  the  second  book  of 
the  Board  is  very  curious.  It  relates  to  the  subject  of  vacci- 
nation, and  is  dated — "  Jamaica  Coffee  House,  April  26,  1803. 
A  deputation  from  the  Board  of  Directors  and  Medical  Council 
of  the  Royal  Jennerian  Society  having  waited  upon  us,  to  give 
information  respecting  the  success  of  the  vaccine  inoculation, 
and  to  solicit  our  recommendation  of  the  object  of  the  Society 
in  our  respective  congregations.  It  was  resolved  unanimously, 
That  in  our  opinion  the  vaccine  inoculation  may  be  of  great 
public  utility  ;  and  that  in  our  individual  capacity,  as  oppor- 
tunities may  occur,  we  will  endeavour  to  communicate  the 
important  information  which  has  been  so  clearly,  so  fully,  and 
so  candidly  imparted  to  us  by  the  Committee." 

The  Board  showed  a  commendable  zeal,  from  the  earliest 
days  of  its  existence,  in  discouraging  the  needless  multiplication 
of  churches  too  feeble  to  exist.  It  also  gave  advice  as  to  the 
settlement  of  suitable  ministers,  and,  in  more  than  one  instance, 
nominated  a  pastor,  by  the  request  of  the  church  itself.  The 
ministers  were  accustomed,  not  infrequently,  to  apply  to  the 
Board  in  regard  to  their  contemplated  removal  to  other  pas- 
torates. Thus,  one  brother  was  "  advised,  that  he  has  a  right 
to  take  care  of  his  family,  and  if  he  cannot  be  maintained 
where  he  is,  and  his  way  is  clear,  he  may  remove." 

It  would  be  difficult  to  recognise  the  Synodical  Boards  of 
earlier  days  in  the  simple  fraternal  gatherings  of  our  time 
known  as  the  London  Baptist  Board  ;  and  yet  this  Board  is 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  361 

the  lineal  descendant  of  the  club  which  first  met  in  the  Hanover 
Coffee-house,  Finch-lane,  and  afterwards,  when  meeting  in  'the 
Jamaica  Coffee-house,  under  the  presidency  of  Abraham  Booth, 
had  to  increase  its  rate  of  subscription  "  on  account  of  the 
rise  in  tobacco.'" 

As  we  turn  over  the  faded  yellow  leaves  of  the  old  Minute 
Book,  and  find  one  name  after  another  of  the  foremost  men  in 
the  Denomination  duly  chronicled  as  being  "  admitted  mem- 
bers of  the  Board,"  there  steals  over  us  a  feeling  of  profound 
regret  that  the  records  tell  us  so  little  what  manner  of  men 
they  were  ;  that  the  different  secretaries  are  so  provokingly 
silent  when  we  would  have  them  eloquent  "  of  the  times  that 
went  over  them  "  and  their  brethren  :  and  that,  with  the  soli- 
tary exception  of  the  item  about  tobacco,  we  have  no  picture 
left  us  of  these  grave  and  venerable  men  in  the  unrestraint  and 
freedom  of  their  social  intercourse. 

Quaint  Items  about  Ministers  and  Deacons. 

Little  more  than  eighty  years  ago  the  Rev.  John  Rippon 
issued  the  first  part  of  his  Baptist  Annual  Register.  The 
object,  as  stated  on  the  title-page,  was  not  entirely  denomina- 
tional. Besides  reproducing  Association  letters,  and  furnishing 
"breviates,"  or  short  notes,  on  the  business  transacted  at  the 
Associations,  and  a  sort  of  "  our  own  commissioner's  survey  " 
of  the  Baptist  churches  in  England  and  Wales,  the  Register 
professed  to  give  "  sketches  of  the  state  of  religion  among 
different  denominations  of  good  men  at  home  and  abroad."  Of 
those  who  belonged  to  the  last  category,  the  Baptists  in  the 
United  States  had  the  largest  share  of  attention  given  to  them. 
This  fact  has  produced  an  American  demand  for  the  Register, 
which  has  made  these  volumes  increasingly  scarce  in  this 
country ;  and  it  is  chiefly  in  a  few  old  Baptist  families  that  the 
book  itself  is  now  to  be  found. 

At  first  sight  the  contents  of  the  Register  do  not  promise 
modern  readers  very  dainty  fare ;  but  on  a  further  and  more 


362  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

careful  examination,  especially  in  the  long  footnotes  given  in 
some  of  the  volumes,  one  discovers  many  toothsome  morsels. 
A  few  of  these  we  now  give.  It  will  be  seen,  that  while  Mr. 
Rippon  and  his  friends  were  animated  by  the  very  laudable  desire 
of  presenting  an  accurate  account  of  the  Baptist  denomination 
during  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century,  they  often  indulged  in  the 
freest  and  quaintest  criticisms  on  ministers  who  were  then  living. 

The  first  citations  are  about  the  churches  and  ministers  in 
the  county  of  Bedford.  "  Bedford. — They  have  thirty  gifted 
persons,  or  more,  who  are  encouraged  to  promote  village 
worship.  Some  of  them  can  lead  a  tune,  some  can  devoutly 
read  a  sermon,  and  all  can  pray. 

"BlunJiam. — Martin  Mayle,  the  happy  pastor  of  this  people, 
has  a  salary  of  about  £26  per  year,  a  house  to  live  in  rent  free, 
and  an  opportunity  of  keeping  a  cow.  This,  with  a  small  income 
of  his  own,  he  cheerfully  derates  to  the  support  of  It  is  wife,  and 
four  sons. 

"  Cran field. — W.  Wakefield  is  the  pastor.  The  church  con- 
sists of  sixteen  members.     They  are  a  happy  little  society." 

"  Luton. — The  pastor  of  this  church,  Thomas  Pilley,  enjoys 
as  much  vigour  as  though  he  were  a  young  man." 

Of  two  churches  in  Buckinghamshire  we  read  :  "  Chenies. 
— The  deacons  and  people  (after  the  example  of  others)  are 
advancing  their  pastor's  income  £10.  Chesham. — The  friends 
were  indulyd,  while  enlarging  their  own  place  of  worship,  with 
the  use  of  the  Independent  chapel  in  the  afternoon,  and  morn- 
ing and  evening  they  have  comfortable  meetings." 

Of  WiUimjJiam,  Cambs,  we  are  told,  "  The  good  man  (John 
Rootham,  the  minister)  has  been  much  tried  with  an  asthmat- 
ical  complaint,  and  other  disorders,  so  that  he  seldom  enjoys 
a  day's  health.  But  he  has  a  considerable  congregation,  and 
about  forty  members." 

The  pastor  of  Chacewater,  Cornwall  (A.  Redding),  "has  a 
talent  which  lies  chiefly  in  visi.iag  the  sick  and  poor,  and  in 
conversing  with  them   about  their   soul's  welfare."     Nicholas 


BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  363 

Gillard,  the  pastor  of  Collumpton,  Devon,  "  is  eighty.  His 
people  say  that  hi3  path  is  like  that  of  the  just,  shining  more 
and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  Daniel  Sprague,  the  minister 
of  Tiverton,  enjoys  a  singularly  robust  constitution.  "  He  says 
that  preaching  fourteen  or  fifteen  sermons  a  week  strengthens  his 
body,  and  invigorates  his  soul."  It  is  reported,  of  John  Rippon, 
sen.,  of  Upottery,  "  thnt  he  is  a  man  of  the  sweetest  temper; 
and  that  good  judges  say  he  preaches  better  and  better."  Of 
Kingstanley,  Gloucester,  we  read  :  "  The  church  here  is  the 
most  ancient  Dissenting  interest  in  Gloucester.  Long  before 
the  Baptist  meeting-house  at  Stanley  was  built,  which  stood 
eighty  years,  the  pious  people  frequently  worshipped  in  a  wood 
belonging  to  Lord  D.  Morton,  under  the  beech  trees,  in  a  cer- 
tain spot  which,  to  this  day,  is  called  the  Gospel  Beech."  At 
Locker ly,  Hants,  "  the  pastor  is  dependent  upon  his  daily 
labour,  the  people  not  advancing  more  than  enough  to  keep  the 
meeting-house  in  repair." 

At  Calicote,  in  Herts,  the  pastor,  Alexander  Thomson, 
labours  as  a  gardener  for  the  support  of  himself  and  wife,  and 
receives  £8  a  year.  He  is  under  the  necessity  af  keeping  a  little 
horse;  and  has  the  pleasure  of  saying  that  publick  worship 
among  his  flock  is  better  attended  than  in  any  former  periods." 
At  AsJiford,  Kent,  "  a  great  work  of  God  has  been  going  on 
this  summer  among  the  Militia  who  were  stationed  there,  but  are 
now  removed  to  Folkstone.  Forty  or  fifty  have  been  baptized." 
At  Colne,  Lancashire,  "  Mr.  John  Stutterd,  the  pastor,  has  suffered 
awfully  by  the  defection  of  those  members  that  seemed  to  be 
pillars."  There  is  another  item  from  Lancashire,  much  more 
favourable  than  this  : — "  Rochdale. — They  have  a  Sabbath  even- 
ing lecture  [in  those  days  a  rare  thing].  It  is  well  attended  by 
a  congregation  entirely  distinct  from  that  of  the  day.  Many 
creep  in  at  night  who  would  be  ashamed  to  appear  in  the  day." 

In  the  same  year  of  which  this  is  recorded  (1797),  there  is 
a  brief  account  of  the  Northamptonshire  Association  being  held 
in  Leicester.      Rev.   B.  Cave  was    at   that   time    minister   of 


364  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

Harvey-lane  Chapel.  The  Association,  we  are  told,  "  met  in 
Mr.  John  Deacon's  meeting-house,  Friar-lane  (General  Baptist), 
the  minister  and  people  who  statedly  assemble  there  kindly 
accommodating  us  with  the  use  of  it,  as  brother  Cave's  was  too 
small  to  contain  the  congregation."  It  will,  perhaps,  surprise 
some  of  the  Baptist  ministers  of  that  district,  and  of  other  dis- 
tricts also,  to  find  that  "  the  next  day,  Thursday,  the  ministers 
related  some  leading  parts  of  their  religious  experience  during  the 
past  year." 

The  minister  of  Lewes,  Sussex,  writes  to  say,  that  "  our  dea- 
cons, Dicker  and  Larwill,  now  preach,  I  hope  with  much  profit, 
to  the  country  people,  among  whom  they  go  on  the  Lord's-day ;" 
and  the  minister  of  Coventry,  John  Butterworth,  we  learn,  "went 
to  London  to  collect  money  in  payment  of  the  debt  on  the  meet- 
ing house,  and  bore  the  fatigue  as  well  as  could  be  expected." 

There  are  two  or  three  curious  morsels  from  Yorkshire. 
The  first  relates  to  the  minister  at  Bradford.  "The  aged 
father  Crab  tree  is  now  getting  feeble,  and  sometimes  sits  down 
once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  his  sermon  ;  but  great  savour 
attends  his  prayers  and  all  his  discourses,  and  he  preaches 
with  as  much  zeal  and  animation  as  ever."  The  second  refers 
to  Mr.  James  Shuttleworth,  of  Coerling  Hill.  We  are  told, 
with  the  most  charming  frankness,  that  this  minister  "is  a 
man  of  weak  constitution,  with  a  little  income,  a  wife  and  ten 
children,  many  of  them  very  small!'1  A  friend  also  writes  of 
Mr.  William  Hague,  the  minister  of  Scarborough:  "  Our  be- 
loved pastor  is  advancing  in  years,  and  almost  blind.  He  is  a 
zealous,  faithful  labourer  in  this  corner  of  Christ's  vineyard. 
He  has  a  wife  and  three  children  at  home.  His  last  year's 
salary  amounted  to  £30,  which  is  the  most  we  ever  raised  him." 

One  of  the  saddest  pictures  given  by  Mr.  Jtippon,  refers  to 
an  aged  Baptist  minister  living  somewhere  in  Pembrokeshire. 
"  How  shall  I  describe,"  says  the  writer,  "  the  poverty  and 
distress  of  his  miserable  habitation  ?  It  had  but  one  apartment. 
The  floor  was  the  sod.    There  was  neither  ceiling  nor  chimney, 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  365 

so  that  the  smoke  dispersed  through  a  hole  in  the  shattered 
roof,  and  partly  out  of  the  door.  The  only  provisions  in  the 
house  were  a  little  barley  bread  and  oatmeal.  A  few  potatoes 
were  deemed  a  luxury.  The  poor  old  man,  over  eighty-five, 
was  lying  on  a  bed  of  straw,  and  the  only  covering  he  had  was 
a  miserable  rug."  Where,  one  is  naturally  tempted  to  ask, 
could  have  been  the  humanity,  to  say  nothing  of  anything 
higher,  of  the  wretched  flock  that  thus  permitted  their  old  and 
infirm  minister  to  perish  in  cold  and  hunger  ? 

Of  the  other  ministers  who  are  singled  out  for  special 
remark,  two  or  three  instances  must  suffice.  The  Rev.  W. 
Clarke,  of  Exeter,  is  spoken  of  as  a  man  remarkable  for  pru- 
dence and  sweetness  of  temper.  Surely  Mr.  Clarke's  modesty 
must  have  suffered  some  shock  when  his  virtues  were  thus 
paraded  before  the  whole  Denomination.  Rev.  John  Toinmas 
is  described,  as  "  an  eminent  preacher,  although  he  never 
particularly  distinguished  himself  in  the  press."  We  are  at  a 
loss  to  understand  the  reason  for  the  conjunction.  But  the 
most  singular  comment  is  on  the  Rev.  Thomas  Mabbott,  of 
Biggleswade,  Beds.  "As  a  preacher  he  was  much  too  loud  and 
too  long,  a  habit  rarely  attended  with  such  desirable  effects  as 
ministers  are  ready  to  expect  ;  but  it  is  ruinous  to  themselves, 
and  often  creates  a  disgust  in  the  minds  of  even  a  serious 
audience,  and  mars  the  whole  service."  Poor  Mr.  Mabbott  I 
he  had  gone  to  his  rest  before  this  public  lecturing  on  his  defects 
could  produce  either  pain  or  profit. 

There  are  two  items  about  deacons  that  are  sufficiently  quaint 
to  merit  quoting.  One  refers  to  Mr.  John  Hall,  a  deacon  of  the 
church  at  Hamsterly,  Devon.  "  He  was  a  man  never  taken  by 
surprise.  However  adverse  any  dispensation,  he  never  said 
more  than,  'It  might  have  been  worse.'  It  was  long  remembered 
of  him  that  when  he  had  a  crop  of  wheat  so  shaken  by  the  wind 
that  there  was  scarcely  a  grain  of  it  left  in  the  ear,  upon  taking 
hold  of  some,  he  said  to  the  reapers,  ■  Well ;  it  might  have  been 
worse.     Here  is  good  straw  left,  for  which  we  should  be  thank- 


366  BYE -PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 


fid!*  "  Verily,  Mr.  Hall  was  an  exceptional  farmer,  to  say  the 
very  least.  The  other  is  recorded  of  Mr.  Davey,  a  deacon  of 
Chard.  "  He  had,"  so  we  are  told,  with  imperturbable  gravity, 
"nine  children  ;  and  at  or  near  the  birth  of  each  child  he  was 
favoured  with  an  additional  cow  to  his  worldly  substance ;  so 
that  he  had  as  many  cows  as  children,  and  no  more  !  " 

The  man  who  could  pen  these  quaint  and  curious  details  was 
not  destitute  of  humour ;  and  one  cannot  but  regret  that  only 
four  volumes  of  the  Register  appeared.  We  have  thereby  lost 
many  side  glimpses,  and  some  sad  ones  also,  of  the  Baptist 
ministers  and  people  of  the  close  of  the  Eighteenth  Century. 

Catechising. 

The  celebrated  Robert  Robinson,  of  Cambridge,  was  one  of 
several  Baptist  ministers  who,  a  century  ago,  advocated  and 
practised  the  public  catechising  of  children  and  young  persons 
seeking  for  fellowship  with  the  churches.  In  December,  1761, 
Mr.  Robinson  writes  : — "  The  Primitive  Church  was  very  wise 
in  not  receiving  members  too  hastily.  Their  design  was,  to 
compose  their  assemblies  of  wise  and  good  men.  In  order  to 
this,  they  detained  their  proposed  members  some  time  in  the 
state  of  catechumens,  that  is,  catechised  ones.  In  this  state 
the  pastor  and  elders  used  to  instruct  and  prepare  them  for 
baptism.  This  discipline  should  be  revived.  Some,  whose 
parents  have  discharged  their  duty  to  them,  do  not  want  this ; 
but,  alas !  this  is  the  case  of  very  few.  A  society  of  cate- 
chumens should  be  formed  voluntarily ;  the  time  of  this  state 
should  be  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  pastor.  At  the  end, 
they  should  speak  before  the  church,  and  be  received,  as  now, 
by  consent.  The  admission  of  members  is  a  most  essential 
act  of  discipline.  It  should  never  be  precipitated,  for  innumer- 
able evils  follow.  The  greatest  penetration  and  caution  will 
■be  found  little  enough  to  prevent  fatal  consequences,  and  those 
may  be  received  in  haste,  which  destroy  at  leisure." 

Referring  to  Robert  Robinson's  catechumenical  system,  Rev. 


BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY.  367 

William  Robinson  says,  "His  entire  plan  would  have  embraced 
a  large  part  of  the  congregation,  divided  into  three  classes  ;  the 
first  class  consisting  of  children,  servants,  and  grossly  ignorant 
people  ;  the  second,  of  catechumens  more  especially,  prepara- 
tory to  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  ;  the  third  class  being 
the  church.  Parts  of  this  comprehensive  scheme  Mr.  Robinson 
attempted  to  carry  out,  both  in  the  town  and  surrounding 
villages.  '  The  children  of  Cambridge  were  appointed  to  meet 
the  pastor  every  Thursday  evening  to  say  their  catechism. 
Many  attending,  it  was  removed  to  the  Lord's- day  evening, 
when  "The  Assembly's  Catechism"  was  explained;  but  the 
congregation  soon  became  so  numerous,  that  it  was  thought 
best  to  continue  the  meeting  by  preaching.'  Such  was  the 
origin — but  at  what  precise  time  is  uncertain — of  those  Sunday 
evening  services  which  drew  crowds  to  the  meeting-house,  and 
brought  down  on  offending  gownsmen  one  of  the  cleverest  and 
most  scathing  pieces  of  satire  and  rebuke  by  which  imperti- 
nence was  ever  lashed." 

"  The  children  in  the  country  villages,"  says  Robt.  Robinson, 
"were  catechised  once  a  month.  They  came  to  the  pastor  at 
his  coming,  that  is,  an  hour  or  two  before  the  public  preaching 
at  each  village.  To  carry  this  mode  of  instruction  on  with 
success,  it  was  necessary  to  give  the  catechisms,  Bibles, 
Testaments,  and  hymn-books,  &c,  to  the  children,  to  allure  or 
reward  them.  Several  persons  contributed  to  this  expense  : 
but  the  contributions  being  unequal  to  the  charge,  the  pastor 
supported  it  as  long  as  he  could,  and  then  was  obliged  to 
desist.  Satisfied,  however,  that  an  infinite  deal  of  good  may 
be  done  this  way,  he  determines,  when  a  favourable  opportunitv 
offers,  to  revive  it  again.  The  labour,  indeed,  is  very  great, 
but  the  pleasure  of  rescuing  souls  from  the  empire  of  sin  is 
greater  still.  The  labour  is  surmounted  by  St.  Paul's  direction, 
■  Give  thyself  wholly  to  them.'  " 

Catechising  their  children  had,  apparently,  once  been  not 
uncommon  among  the  General  Baptists,  judging  from  the  fol- 


368  BYE-PATHS  IN  BAPTIST  HISTORY. 

lowing  minute  adopted  at  a  General  Assembly  in  1732  :  "  That, 
whereas  it  hath  appeared  to  this  Assembly  that  there  is  a  very 
great  decay  of  holiness  and  piety  in  many  of  the  members  of 
the  baptized  churches  and  rising  generation,  which  is,  we 
esteem,  owing  to  the  want  of  family  worship,  and  a  pious  and 
religious  education  of  the  children,  'tis  therefore  agreed  by  the 
members  accordingly,  and  they  do  advise  that  such  in  the 
ministry  do  choose  to  treat  on  such  a  subject,  or  subjects,  or 
purpose  to  exhort  all  their  hearers  to  instruct  and  catechise  their 
children,  to  endeavour  to  bring  them  up  in  the  nurture  and  fear 
of  the  Lord,  and  to  acquaint  them  betimes  with  the  doctrines 
and  principles  of  the  Gospel ;  and  likewise  to  choose  another 
subject,  or  subjects,  to  exhort  their  hearers  to  maintain  family 
worship,  in  family  and  secret  prayer  and  praise  to  God,  and 
continually  to  visit  and  encourage  their  members  and  others  to 
the  practice  of  those  good  duties,  and  to  inquire  whether  they 
put  the  same  in  practice  ;  and  that  these  things  be  recom- 
mended to  the  rest  of  the  churches  that  are  now  absent.'"" 

Two  scraps  of  information  on  the  subject  of  catechising  are 
to  be  found  in  Rippon's  Register.  The  first  is  a  resolution 
passed  at  the  Midland  Association  held  at  Bond-street  Chapel, 
Birmingham,  in  1793.  It  is  as  follows  :  "  Agreed,  that  we 
recommend  parents  and  ministers  belonging  to  the  different 
societies  to  renew  the  ancient  and  advantageous  practice  of 
catechising  the  children  of  their  respective  families  and  congre- 
gations." The  second  occurs  in  recording  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Thorpe,  the  minister  of  Wall-street  Chapel,  London,  in  1807, 
had  preached  "  the  annual  sermons  in  commemoration  of  the 
great  storm  on  the  2Gth  November.  We  understand  that  our 
young  brother,  Mr.  Thorpe,"  says  the  chronicler,  "  according 
to  the  pointed  advice  given  to  him  at  his  ordination,  has  begun 
the  work  of  catechising  the  children  of  his  congregation,  a  work 
now  much  neglected,  but  from  which  the  genuine  Protestant 
Dissenters  Lave  derived  peculiar  advantages  in  better  times." 
*  MS.  rrocctdlngs  of  the  Assembly,  vol.  iii.  p.  9. 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Abergavenny 155 

Abingdon 100—103 

Adams,  Rev.  Richard   ....     245 

Adamites 116 

Aldridge,  John  ....  313,  314 
Allen,  Baptism  in  the  river  of  .  2 
Allen,  Mr.  Richard : 

His  Essay  on  Singing  .  .  .  335 
Marlow's  Strictures  upon  335,  336 
Dr.     Russell's     Examination 

of 340—342 

Allen's  "Vindication"  .     342 — 345 

CJaridge's  Reply  to  Allen       .     346 

Agrippa,  Dr.  Cornelius     .     .     .    326 

Ambrose 159 

Amersham 289 

Amory,  Mr 198 

Amusements 258 — 260 

Ancient    Baptist    Churches    in 
England : 
Hill   Cliffe,  near  Warrington 

21—23 
Eythorne,  Kent  ....  23—26 
Booking        and        Braintree, 

Essex 26-28 

Anthony,  Saint 176 

Anointing  the  Sick : 

Practised  by  the  General  Bap- 
tists during  the  Seventeenth 

Century 293 

By  Kiffiu  and  Patient  .  .293,  294 
Prayer  of  Faith,  by  Hanserd 

Knollys 294-296 

Hanserd     Knollys    anointed 
with     oil     by    Kiffin    and 

Powell 296 

Grantham's  Testimony      .     .     297 
Russen  Charges  the   Baptists 
with     Practising    Extreme 

Unction 297 

Joseph  Stennett's  Reply     .     .     298 


PAGE 

Apostolici,  The 116 

Arminians,  The 116 

Askew,  Ann 76 

Associations,  Local  and  General 
Assemblies : 
The  Idea  of  Associations  .     .     180 
Letter  from  Ireland  and  Re- 
sults      181,  182 

Somerset  Association    .     182 — 186 
Midland  Association      .     186 — 190 
General  Baptist  Local  Asso- 
ciations      190 

County  Association  ....     191 
General    Baptist    Assemblies 

192—195 
Caffynite  Controvers}'  .  195 — 197 
General  Association  .  .  197 — 200 
First  Particular  Baptist  Ge- 
neral Assembly  .  .  200—207 
Second  and  Third      .     .      207,  208 

Fourth 208—210 

Fifth 210 

Sixth 212 

London  Association  .     .     213 — 217 

Astedius 177 

Athanasius 326 

Austin  and  the  Monks  of  Bangor  2 — 7 

Austin's  Oak .         4 

Austin,  Mrs.,  of  Dunton  .     .     .     254 
Augustine 287,  325 

Baker  Manuscripts 19 

Bampfield,  Rev.  Francis    39 — 42,  300 
Baptist   Churches,    Ancient,  in 

E  gland 21—28 

Baptist  Confessions  of  Faith  104—138 
Baptist  Denomination,  Origin  of 

Smyth  and  the  General  Bap- 
tists       29—34 

Spilsbury  and  the  Particular 
Baptists 34—37 


3?o 


INDEX. 


PACK 

The  Six-principle  Baptists  37,  38 
Seventh-day  Baptists  .  .  38—42 
Scotch  Baptists  ....  42 — 40 
New    Counexion  of    General 

Baptists 46—52 

Baptists   and    Liberty  of  Con- 
science : 
Leonard  Busher    .     .     .     .53,  55 
Religious  Peace     ....    54—61 
Persecution       for       Religion 

Judged  and  Condemned     6L — 63 
A    most    Humble    Supplica- 
tion        63—66 

Richardson's    "  Necessity    of 
Toleration    in    Matters    of 

Religion" 67—70 

Ricliar<lsoi:'s      "  Plain    Deal- 
ing '"  (note) 70 

Baptists,  Persecution  of,  in  Eng- 
land            72 — 103 

Baptism.    Public    Disputations 

on 139—179 

Barber,  Edward 82 

Barton,  Mr.,  u  Hvmns  "...     347 

Basil 288,  326 

Batte,  John 150 

Baxter,  h'ichd.  83,  150. 153—155,  IOC 
Bede,  the  Venerable      .     .     .     .    2,  6 

Bedford,  Thomas 207 

Bessel's  Green 203 

Bevis,  Mrs 277 

Beza        ......   329.  341,  343 

Biblemen,  The 14 

Biddenden 293 

Biddenden  Church-book   .     .     .     237 

Bird,  Joseph 265 

Bissick,  Elizabeth 265 

Blowes,  John  .  259,  277.  278,  298 
Bucking  and  Braintree  ...  26 
Booth,  Abraham       ....    47,  361 

Bowes,  Thomas 166 

Boucher,  Juan 23,  24 

Brewer,  Thomas 81 

Broomsgrove  .  312 

Browne,  Sarah 2IS7 

Brownists,  The 30,  33 

Burgess,  Dr 83 

Bnrnham,  Essex        221 

Button,  Henry 51 

Burving  the  Dead  .  .  .  314—316 
Basher,  Leonard       ...     53,  60,  80 

Caffyn.  Mr.  Matthew  167,  195—197 
Caffvnite  Controversy  .     .     195— 197 

Calvin .       172.  828 

Calamy 83 


PAGK 

Campbell's   Essay    on   English 

Poetry  (note) '  .     .     317 

Cantores 327 

Capgrave,  John  (note)  .      ...       16 

Catechising 366—368 

Card  Playing 260 

Carpenter,  Richard 152 

Carmichael,  Robert       ....       42 
Casting  Lots: 

The  General  Baptists  Elect 
their  Deacons,  and  occa- 
sionally   their     Elders    by 

Lot      " 298—300 

Bampfield's  Appeal  to  the 
Lot  in  selecting  a  Place  of 

Worship 300 

An    Ejected  Minister  of  Ay- 
how,    Huntingdon,    favours 
the  Use  of  Lots     .     .    .     .    300 
Appeal  to  Lot  by  an  Indepen- 
dent Church  of  Dublin    in 

1826 :;0l 

Recent  .Appeal  by  an  Inde- 
pendent Church  in  the 
Election  of  Deacons  .     .     .     301 

Cerinthus 257 

Chandler,  Samuel    166—174,  177.  17'.' 
Che>teiton  Separatists      .     .    14 — J.8 
Children  in   dying    in   infancy, 
the  salvation  of     .     .     .      127.  17:1 

Christmas,  John 271 

Churches,  parish,  use  of,  in 
public  disputations  on  bap- 
tism      140,  155,  161 

Styled  "the  common  meeting- 
place  of  the  town,  the  stone- 
house    (note),   the    steeple- 
house"      . 250 

Cubs.  Ministers' : 

Clubs  defined  by  Dr.  Johnson     350 
Points     of     resemhlauce     of 
ministers'    club    to     other 

clubs 350 

Earliest  of  which  have  notice, 
and      business      transacted 

351—355 

Second  club      ....     355 — 361 

Collins,  Hercules.      .     .     .       129,  332 

Collins,  William  ....      345^  346 

Cock-fighting 260 

Confessions  of  Faith,  Baptist: 

Were  originally  apologies  104 — 106 
Smyth's  Confession  .  .  107—110 
London  Confession,  or  k'  Faith 

of  the  Seven  Churches"  111") — 117 
Grantham's  Confession  .     117 — 122 


INDEX. 


37* 


PAGE  • 

Orthodox  Creed    .     .     .     121—129 
Confession  of   the  Assembly 

(Particular  Baptist)   .     129—133 
Somersetshire  Confession  133—136 
Articles    of    Eeligion     (New 
Connexion  of  General  Bap- 
tists)     136—138 

Coningsby  (quotation  from  an 
Association  held  at)  ....     233 

Cowley 344 

Cox,  Benjamin 150 

Coxe,  Dr.  Neherniah     ....     191 

Courtney,  Jeremiah 275 

Cranmer      .     .     .     .     .     .    24,  73,  74 


Creeds,  the  Nicene,  Athanasian, 
and  Apostles',  enjoined  in  the 
"  Orthodox  Creed "    .     .     .     .     123 

Crisp,  Dr.  Tobias     .     .     .      215,  217 

Customs  of  Early  Baptists: 

Imposition  of  hands  .     .     283 — 287 

Fasting 287—291 

Washing    the    feet    of    the 

saints 291—293 

Anointing  the  sick  .  .  293 — 298 
Casting  lots  ....  298— 300 
Love  leasts  ....  301,  302 
Maintenance  of  the  Poor  302— 309 
Marriage  Service  .  .  .  309 — 314 
Burying  the  Dead     .     .     314— 31G 

D'Anvers 7 

Dancing 260 

Deacons 234—238 

Deaconesses 239,  240 

Denne,  Henry  .  .  149,  161—166 
Denne,  John  246, 249, 254, 256, 259, 305 
Deynocb's  reply  to  Austin  .  .  4 
Discipline,  Church: 

General  basis    ....      241,  242 

Strictness 243—248 

Treatment  of  heretics  .  248 — 257 
Wesleyanism  ....  257, 258 
Amusements     ....     258 — 260 

Dress 260—264 

Many  ing  out  of  Society  .  264: — 270 
Domestic  life    ...     .     270- -272 

Servants 273,  274 

Drunkenness  ....  274 — 277 
Money  matters  .  .  .  277 — 279 
Miscellaneous  charges  .  279,280 
Dr.  Wall's  commendation  281,  282 
Disputations  on  Baptism : 
Baptists  compelled  to  be  con- 
troversialists      139 

Public  disputations   .     .       139,  140 


PAOH 

Dr.  Daniel  Featley,  in  South- 

wark 140—150 

John    Batte,   and   others,    at 

Tarling 150 

Benjamin    Cox  and  Eichard 

Baxter  at  Coventry    .     .     .     150 
John  Gibbs  and  Biehard  Car- 
penter at  Newport  Pagnell     152 
Baxter  and  Tombes  at  Bewd- 

ley 153—155 

Tombes,  with  Vaughan   and 

Cragge,  at  Abergavenny  155 — 160 
Henry  Denne  and  Dr.  Gun- 

ing,  in  London  .     .     .     161 — 166 
The  Portsmouth  Debate    166—179 
Dockhead,      General      Baptist 

Church  at 215 

Domestic    life   (Church    Disci- 
pline)   270—272 

Dorchester  Jail,  Mr.  Bampfield 

imprisoned  in 40 

Dress  (Church  Discipline)    260—264 
Drunkenness     (Church     Disci- 
pline)   274-277 

Durham  clergyman,  a  ;  his  tyr- 
anny and  avarice 314 

Eccles,  Mr 187,312 

Edwards, "  Gangraena"  83, 84, 151, 183, 

293,  294,  302 

Elders,  or  Ministers      .     .     218—230 

Erasmus 164,  173,  326 

Ethelbert     .* 1,  4 

Ethelfried 6 

Evans,  Dr 7,  33,  110 

Eythorne 23—26 

Fabyan's    "New  Chronicles  of 
England  and  France"    ...     2,  7 

Fair-street,  London 289 

Farmer,  William 306 

Fasting : 

Obligations  of 287 

National  Fasts 287 

Congregational  Fasts    .     .     .     288 
Particular  Fasts    .     .     .     288—290 

General  Fasts 290 

Strictness  of  Fasts    .     .     .290,291 

Featley,  Dr.  Daniel : 

Scurrilous  Attack  on  Baptists 

105,  106,  116,  117 

"  Dippers  Dipt  " 140 

Account  of    Dr.   Featley   by 

Dr.  Leo 141,  149 

Dispute    at   Southwark   with 
Kiffin  and  others    .     .     140—148 


37* 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Fisher,  Samuel 255 

Forty,  Henry 100,  101 

Fox,  The  Martyrologist    ...      78 
Frumentius 147 

Gale,  Dr.  John 354 

General  Baptists  and  Smyth  29 — 34 
New  Connexion  ....  46 — 52 
Articles  of  Religion  .     .     136—138 

Geneva  Jiggs        329 

Gerard  and  his  Companions        8 — 11 

Gerritt,  Lubbert 32 

Gibbs,  Jolm  : 
Public  Dispute  with  Richard 

Carpenter 152 

Gifford,  Mr. : 
His  People's  Device  to  Defeat 

the  Informers 319 

Opinion  on  Singing  ....    319 
Gifted     Brother,    note    on    the 

Term 219 

Gill,  Dr.,  Anecdote  of — note       .     347 

Gillet,  Humphrey 188 

Glas,  Kev.  John 42,  43 

Grantham,  Thomas : 

Confession 117 — 121 

Purpose  of  Local  Associations 

Dfscrilel      .    .        180,181,192 
''Sigh  for  Peace".     .     .       193,261 
Apostles,  or  Messengers    230 — 232 
Deacons,    Helps    to   Govern- 
ment      234—236 

Imposition  of  Hands      .     2.S3 — 286 

Fasting 287—289 

Praver    and    Laving    on    of 

Hands       . 297 

Maintenance  of  the  Poor  .  ,  303 
"  Truth  and  Peace "  .  .  .  310 
Burying  the  Dead  .  .  314 — 316 
11  The  Dutv  of  Thanksgiving  " 

322—330 
Influence    still    felt     on    the 
Singing  Question  iu  1733   .     347 
Grav's  Register: 
Bishop  of  Ely       ....      15,  16 

Gregory  the  Great 6 

Griffith,  John 38 

Grimes.',  Edward's,  Wife  .    .     .     272 
Gunning,  Dr.  Peter       ....       94 
Public    Dispute  with  Henry 
Denne       161—166 

Hammon,  George     ....     94,  95 

Hall,  P.p 30 

Hallam 24 

Hardcastle.  Mr 321 


TAGK 

Hart,  Henry 27 

Harrison,  Thomas    .     .     .       840,  344 

Hats  put  off  in  sign  of  approval     277 

Kept  on,  iu  sign  of  dissent     319 

Hazzard,  Mr 264 

Headach,  Mr 94 

Helpstone 292 

Helwvs,  Thomas     ....     31,  34 
Henry  the  Second    ...      9,  10,  12 
Heretics,  Treatment  of  (Church 
Discipline) : 

Ministers 248,  249 

Quakerism 249—252 

Ariniuiauism 251 

Calvinism 253—254 

Eautism 254—257 

"YWsleyanism 257 

"Writ  against, revived  bv Queen 

Elizabeth 79 

Hexham 250,251 

Hill  Cliffe 21 

Hildersham,  Mr 29 

Hook,  Dr 6 

Hook,  Joseph 222,223 

Hollis,  Thomas  and  John      .     .     353 
Howard,  Luke,  "  Looking-glass 

for  Baptists" 36 

Hnvendon,  Eoger  of     ...     .         9 
Huss 327 

Idson.  William    ....       306,  307 
Imposition  of  hands      .     .     283—287 

Ina,  Law  of 7 

Ingello,   Mr.,  his  fondness   for 

dress  and  music 258 

Inquisition,  the  Protestant    .     .       74 
Irenaius 297 

Jacob,  nenry 3-1 

Jacob,  Thomas     .     .     .   271,2-6,27* 

James,  John .       96 

Jeff  cry.  William  ....       243.  292 

Jerome .     291 

Jessy.  Henry .     255 

Jesuits 116 

Johnson,  Dr 350 

Johnson,  Jane 266 

Jortin 3 

Just-fast-men 14 

Keaeh,   Benjamin,   '•  Ministerial 

Maintenance"' 227 

Introduces  singing  at   Hors- 

leydown 331 

Defence  of  singing    ....     331 

Marlow's  strictures  upon     333.  334 

Elias,  son  of     ....     1C3 


INDEX. 


373 


PAGE 

Kiffin,  William    35,  89,  143,  145,  147, 
151,  296,  338,  346, 

King,  James 186 

Knott,  John 25,  26 

Knollys,  Hanserd  87, 88,2  94— 296,  333 

Lamb,  Thomas 84—86 

Lanf  ranc's  opposition  to  the  Eng- 
lish Waldenses 8 

Laud,  Archbishop    ....      51,  81 

Leyden,  John  of 104 

Ley  gate,  Bartholomew  ...  80 
Leyland,  Thomas  Slater  ...       22 

Lingard 6 

Lollards,  the 12,  328 

Lowe,  Thomas 22 

Love-feasts 301,  302 

Luther 327 

Maclean.  Archibald  ....  42,  44 
Maclaurin,  Rev.  John  ....  42 
Maintenance  of  Ministers      225 — 229 

Mayle,  Edward 267 

Mario w,  Isaac: 

"Discourse  concerning  Sing- 
ing"       331 

The  Leader  of  the  Opposi- 
tion on  the  Singing  Contro- 
versy      333,  334 

"The  Truth  Soberly  De- 
fended " 334 

"  Controversy      of      Singing 

brought  to  an  End"    .     .     .     334 
"  Strictures    on    Mr.    Allen's 

Essay  " 335 — 339 

Marrying  out  of  Society  (Church 

Discipline)    ...  .     264—270 

Marriage  Service      .     .     .     304—310 

Martin,  Mr 359 

Marot 341 

Marlot '28* 

Maurice,  Rabanus 326 

Matthews,  John 253 

Maze  Pond,  Origin  of  ...     .     3o4 

Meiinonitcs 31,  32 

Messengers,  or  Apostles  .  230 — 234 
Midland  Association  186—190.  263 
Middleton,  Humphrey  ...     27,  75 

Miller.  John 95,  96 

Ministers  and  Deacons,  Quaint 

items  about 361 — 3C6 

Miscellaneous : 

Ministers'  Club?    .     .     .     350—361 
Quaint  items  about  Ministers 

and  Deacons      .     .     .     361 — 366 
Catechising 366—368 


PAGE 

Miscellaneous  Charges  (Churcli 

Discipline) 279,  280 

Monk,  Thomas 121 

Money  Matters  (Church  Disci- 
pline)         277—279 

Money,  "  Hard  to  come  by  "     .     30* 

Mosheim 1 

Morton,  John 61 

u  Truth's  Champion"     .     .     .       34 

Morgan,  Mr 272 

MS.  Proceedings  of  the  General 
Baptist  Assemblies  quoted : 
Admonish    those    who    hear 

Presbyterian  Ministers,  note     201 
How  to  keep  up  the  Contribu- 
tions of  the   Church  Mem- 
bers, note 200 

Gifted  Brethren  Denned,  note  220 
Calling  out  Ministers  .  221,  222 
Discipline  in  regard  to  erring 

Elders       .     .     .        225,  228,  229 
Question   about  the   Lawful- 
ness  of  Receiving    Tithes, 

note 228 

Messengers  in  South  Carolina     232 
Extent  of  Messengers' Autho- 
rity, note 233 

Admonition  on  account  of  the 

spread  of  Socinianism     .     .     249 
Elders  disqualified  to  preach 
who    "turn   from    the   Ge- 
neral  love   of   God   to   the 

Particular " 254 

Dancing,  Cock-fighting,  Card 

Playing  condemned    .     .     .     260 
Ministers'  fondness  for  Dress 

rebuked 263 

Relaxation   of    Strictness   on 
Marrying    out    of    Society 

267— 270 
Reprove   those   who   join    in 

Worship  with  Prcdobaptists     280 
Whether  lawful  to  be  Married 
by   a   "National"  Minister 

note 310 

Catechising 368 

Muller,  Professor lid 

Newman,  Mr 76,  78 

Newton.  Rev.  John : 

Description       of        "  Flying 

Camp" ".214 

Noble,  Mr.  John 355 

Noble,  Elizabeth 273 

Number  of  the  Elect,  Reflections 

on 120 


374 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Officers  of  Baptist  Churches: 

Eldrn-,  or  Ministers  .     .     218 — 230 
Messengers,  or  Apostles     2.    — S    I 
DtatCMw,    Helps  in    Govern- 
ment  

Deaconesses 23'.'.  240 

Osman,  Mr. : 

D-seits  Lis  Duty       .     .     .     .     27 1 

Pagitt,  Ephraim 30 

Paston  Letters  (note)    ...      18,  19 

Papwurth,  Agnes 273 

Parker,  Dr.  {note) 78 

Joan 27o 

Parkhursl,  Bishop  of  Norwich  .  7.' 

Pharepjint,  Ann 266 

Pelag.us 1 

Pelagians 1 1  r", 

j,  Jan 79 

Mr 151 

Pinner's  Hall 4JJ 

Poor,  maintenance  of    ...     .  30 
Baptist  Confessions  e: 
Commended   for    it    by   Dr. 

.  .  .  am 

f  help .    .    .    1 

Abused 3o7 

How  Baptists  -«\  ere  able  to  do 
so  much  for  their  poor    3u7 — 309 

Polygamies 116 

:  -  rag,  Prick  song      . 

Powell,  Vavasour 296 

beriaas.      > 
Persecution  for  religion  jiui_ 

and  condemned    .    .    .    .    61 — 63 
Persecution  of  Baptists  in  Eng- 
land: 

r  Henry  the  Eighth  .    72—74 
Edward  the  Sixth     .     .     .      74.  75 

Marv 75 — 78 

Elisabeth i  -    i 

James  the  Firs;     ....    7   —  31 

Cliarles  the  First  ....     81.  82 

The  Civil  War      .     .     .     .    B2— 89 

The  Commonwealth       .     .    89—91 
Charles  the  Second  .     .     .    91—99 
James  the  Second      .     .       99 — 1U3 
Persecutors  out  witted  by  sin giug 

dob     .    .    .    .     .    .    .    .    920 

Prayer,  Eo:>k  of  Common  .      3l>9,  310 

116 

Puritans  and  marriage  service  .     Ml 

Quakers 

:'  the  origin  of   251 


turn 

Disturbers  of  the  Broadmead 

Congregation 252 

280 

Uj  posed  to  baptism  ....  286 

Bantism 254 — 257 

;   Bandail,  Matthew,  letter  on  mar- 
riage     

1    Kehgiuus  Peace ;  a  plea  for  li- 

i>f  conscience    .     .     .    54 — 61 
.    Ek .  ::.Uel        .      .      .     66 — 7U 

.     .     .     .     361 

1    KoOn.s -n,   Robert:    account  of 

the  Chesterton  Separatists  .     15,  16 
Catechising   ....      366,  367 
:    .Robinson,  William:    accou: 

Kobert  Bobinsui.  -  ir    367 

Kobiu.-on,  Mr.,  of  Hungertoru  : 
Presbyterian  Moderator  at 
Foitsmuutk    Debate    167.    171.  175 
176.  177 
Rudd.  Dr.  Saver   .    355,  356.  35G 
Russell,  Dr.  Wm.  (MJ  —178 

Animad  versions  on  Mi.  Allen's 

v i>4«« —  342 

Russem  D - 

Salvation  of  infants       .     .       127.  173 
nth-day  Baptists   .     .     .  M 

-  .ants (Church Discipli:       - 
Shaldrr.  Kobert,  inhuman  tivat- 

ment  of  his  bodv  alter  burial  315 
Shad  Thames  ..*...  219.  248 
Sciphard,  1'hiJip 274 

-  :;h  Baptists 42 — 46 

Sing:. 

Baptists  not  altogether  song- 
less  217—320 

Outwitting    persecutors      by 
singing  "Psalms .     . 

Grantham  v.m  "  The  Durv 
Thanksgiving    .     . 

Mr.  Reach  introduces  singing 
at  Hoisleydowu     .     . 

.s  Defence  of  Singing  33L332 

••  The  leader  of  the  Opj 

tio:.  -rlow       333 — 335 

M:i  -ires  on  Allen's 

335—339 

E.  H.'s*"  Scripture  Froof  "      .     339 

Dr.  Russell  on  Allen's  Essav  34'.» — 
342 

Allen's  "  Vindication  "  .     3  I . 

Clar:   |  to  Allen    .     .     346 

General    Baptists   and    sink- 
ing    347-349 


INDEX. 


375 


page 
Dr.  Gill's  reply  (note)    .     .     .     347 
The  servant-maid's  objection 
to     Dr.    Patrick's     i  sahus 

\note) 319 

Six-Principle  Baptists  .     .     .     37,  38 
Smith,  Robert,  yeoman  of  the 

guard  at  Windsor  ....  76 
Smythand  the  General  Baptists 29— 34 
Socrates  Scholasticus   ....     287 

Spalding 219 

Spilsbury    and    the    Particular 

Baptists 34—37,  111 

Stanley,  Francis  ....       225,  226 

Steed,  Mr.  B 337,  338.  316 

Steunett,     Rev.    Joseph,    Lon- 
don       217.298 

Stennett,  Edward,  Wallingford.  '    93 
Sternhold  and  Hopkins    .       317,347 
Stinton,  Mr.  Benjamin  ....     352 
Stor  y,    Dr. — a     bitter     perse- 
cutor    76, 77 

Stokes,  Rev.  W.,  Hist,  of  Mid. 

Association 190 

Strype 24,26,27 

Supplication,  a  most  humble     63 — 66 
Swift,  Mr.  (M.P.),  generous  act 
on  behalf  of  Mr.  Eccles      .     .     187 

Tate,  Nathaniel 348 

Taylor,  Ad«ni  (the  General 
Baptist  historian),  describes 
the  usual  business  transacted 
at  Local  Associations  .  .  .  190 
Taylor,  Dan,  the  Father  and 
Founder  of  the  New  Con- 
nexion of  General  Baptists    47 — 50 

Taylor,  Jeremy 297 

Teerwoort,  Hendrick    ....       79 

Terril,   Elder   (of   Broadmead)     239, 

275.  278 

Tertullian 1,235 

Tillam,  Mr 22 

Tombes,  Dr.  John    .       153,  155 — 16U 
Toleration,  necessity  of,  in  mat- 
ters of  religion  ....    67 — 77    I 
A  Declaration  of,  by  William 

the  1  bird 103    I 

Act  of 103 

Tye,  Oristopher's,  Actes  of  the 
Apostles,  in  rhyme  (jiote)  .     .     317    I 

Tully 329 

Turner,  Francis 23    | 

I 


PAGK 

Underbill,  Dr 212 

Underwood,  Dr.  W.      .     .    .    30—32 

Vaccination,  the   Baptist  Board 

upon 360 

Vatalian,  Pope 326 

Vaughan,  Henry : 

"  The  Silurist " 155 

Disputes  on  baptism  with  Dr. 

Tombes 157,  158 

Vetablus,  Fr 341 

Vernon,  John 181 

Virginia 232 

Walden 13 

Wall,  Dr.     ....       281,  282—304 

Walsingham 13 

Warboya 300,301 

Washing  feet : 
By  General   Baptists,  during 

the  Civil  War 291 

By    Scotch    Baptists,   in   our 

day 45 

Watk  qs,  Sarah 278 

W  ebbe-,  Mr 167 

Weekly  Offering 308 

Wesliyanism  treated  as  heresy 
by  the  Broadmead  Church  2j7,  258 

Weyer burton,  Mr 22 

Widow  Wi-gs.  of  Dunton     .     .     253 
Wile-beating,  by  Thomas  Bed- 
ford.  270 

English  law  on  the  subjp'-t    .     271 
Wile,  not  loving  as  ought  (Johu 

ChristniM*) 271 

Wife,  Edward  Grimes  churlish 
to  liis;  not.  allowing  her  need- 
ful things 272 

Wightman,  Edward      ....       80 
Wilniot,  Ker.  James     .     .       188, 189 

Wilson,  i  benezer 346 

Wilson,  John 3U5,  306 

Whinnel,  Mr.  Thomas.     ...     337 

Wlii re's  Alley 304 

Whitney  Gaol,  Baptists  im- 
prisoned in 188 

Wright,  Joseph   .    117,  195—197,  333 
Wj-chffe's  opinion  on  baptism  12 — 14 

Z  wingle,  f  oil  owers  of,  th  reaten  ed 
with  persecution  by  Henry 
the  Eighth 73,  74, 


-J. 


